Huw Ydy Enw'r Cath Bachgen Bach

This afternoon I wrote my friend Ruth* via email:

"Here are a few shots of the kittens. Now I have to finish naming them.

"The fluffy wheaten one is Gwenith. I want the stripey male to have a one-syllable name so they're easy to say together: "X and Gwenith," "Gwenith and X" . . .

"Do you think he looks like a Rhys? Or more like a Huw? ("Gwenith and Huw" is easier to say). 'Rhys,' I read, means 'enthusiasm,' and he's pretty enthusiastic; while 'Huw' is adapted from the German 'Hugh' and means 'soul, mind, intellect.' And he seems to be very smart!

"Or should I call him Wil (Hopcyn) as a salute to 'Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn'?"

A few hours later, Ruth replied:

"Thanks for sending the pictures. The kittens are very adorable. Of course, I love the name Gwenith - that was my Gwen's [Ruth's late Golden Retriever] given name (given by me. Her original name was "Joybells"- didn't take me long to change that one.)

"I rather like Huw, but the others are all right as well. He really does remind me of Tomi, giving me an idea of what Tomi looked like as a kitten (Tomi was fairly young, maybe around a year old, but not a kitten when he came to live with me.)"

So there we have it. The little boy kitten's name is Huw.

Pwy Ydych Chi?

I've spent a remarkable amount of time so far this weekend, sitting on the floor in the Kitten Room and reading.

After all, the kittens need socialized, I've got a book here that I've owned for a few years but have never read (Christy, by Catherine Marshall), so why shouldn't I combine the-- ahem! tasks?

I've named the pinky-yellow one "Gwenith." That's a natural transformation from "Cream o' Wheat (sorry, Steve*, no), since gwenith is Welsh for wheat.

So now that all three of the other four-legged kids have Welsh names, the little boy kitten has to have one, too. Of one syllable, I've decided, since it flows nicely with "Gwenith and--" Rhys, maybe? I keep looking at him and trying to make it fit, but it won't, not quite.

I'll write my friend Ruth* back in my home town. She's got three dogs and one cat and she's good at naming animals. What's more, she's deep-dyed in Welsh culture and activities. Her ear should be good for this.