The ap was not used much in this country, but the patronymic naming system persisted for a while. This means that the children took the given name of their father for their surname...Thus, John ap David was John, the son of David, or John David... who was the son of David Cadwallader....and, David Cadwallader had been the son of Cadwallader Jones, and so on. This is the reason that Welsh research can be so challenging...the surname changed every generation, and there was really no way to know the surname of someone's father...only his given name, which had become the surname of the children.... S. , I wonder if someone would explain on the list the "ap" included in some of the old Welsh names, i.e., David ap Thomas." -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/2006