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This study analyzed 3,757 Welsh settlement names to determine if they encode measurable environmental information, focusing on the impact of terrain-related lexical elements. The findings revealed that settlements with high-terrain names were located, on average, 24.4 meters higher than those with low-terrain names, a result that was consistent across various neighborhood definitions and validated using an independent elevation source. While the research suggests that certain Welsh settlement-name categories retain relevant terrain information, it also highlights limitations in interpretation due to unresolved spatial structures and the lack of external replication.
Settlement names in Wales reveal significant terrain information, with high-terrain names indicating locations that are, on average, 24.4 meters higher than low-terrain counterparts.
Landscapes are named, but whether names retain measurable environmental information beyond broad geographic structure is rarely tested. We analysed 3,757 Welsh settlements using a frozen, source-audited 24-element lexical framework, preregistered outcome-specific models and geographically structured validation. The central comparison contrasted 101 settlements carrying high-terrain elements (\textit{bryn} or \textit{mynydd}) with 139 carrying low-terrain elements (\textit{cwm} or \textit{pant}). High-terrain names occupied locations 24.4 m higher relative to their 2-km surroundings (95\% CI, 10.8--38.1 m; Holm-adjusted $p$ = 0.00137). The association remained positive across prespecified 1-, 2- and 5-km neighbourhood definitions and was reproduced using an independently produced elevation source (24.1 m; 95\% CI, 10.6--37.6 m). Adding terrain-name polarity to a non-lexical spatial and settlement baseline reduced geographically held-out mean squared error by 4.63\%, 6.22\% and 7.30\% under 10-, 25- and 50-km spatial blocking, respectively, although improvement varied among held-out regions. River-related names provided weaker, directionally consistent evidence, while the preregistered woodland model was non-estimable. Residual spatial structure, unresolved name language and the absence of independent external replication limit interpretation. Selected Welsh settlement-name categories therefore retain measurable information about present-day terrain within Wales, without establishing individual etymology, causal naming, historical environmental memory or transferability to other naming systems.
