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Origins Available: |
| Wales |
This old, proud name is a patronymic name created from the Welsh personal name Rhydderc, Riderch, or Roderick, all of which mean "reddish-brown." The surname Prothers features the distinctive Welsh patronymic prefix "ap-," which means "son of." The original form of the name was ap-Rhydderc, or ap-Riderch, but the prefix has been assimilated into the surname over the course of time.
The surname Prothers was first found in Carmarthenshire (Welsh: Sir Gaerfyrddin), located in Southwest Wales, one of thirteen historic counties and presently one of the principal area in Wales, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Prothers research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Prothers History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Prothers have included Protheroe, Prytherch, Prothers, Rhydderch and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Prothers Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.