The capital has one of the nation’s lowest percentages of adults with names from Wales, but 22 per cent of names on the electoral roll in Shrewsbury are of Welsh descent.

President of the Shrewsbury Welsh Society, Ann Dean, today said she was surprised the town had been placed higher than the capital.

She said: “I’m surprised about beating Cardiff, but I’m not as surprised that Shrewsbury has a strong Welsh heritage.

“I know south Wales has fewer Welsh speakers, which would also be a factor. I am very proud to hear about the research.

“As a society we have around 50 members and we are of course looking for more people to celebrate in this news, that we have such a wonderful Welsh heritage.”

Richard Webber, visiting professor at University College London, who carried out the research, said they discovered the geographical boundary between England and Wales is not how we nationally define ourselves.

“You will find more people today celebrating their Welsh background in Shrewsbury than in Cardiff,” he said.

“People have jumped on that fact, whether horrified or amused, but people see it in different ways. I’m sure it’s positive. But also in Shropshire for example, there are names such as Hotchkiss, Paddock and Wycherley which are peculiar to the region.

“Breeze is particularly Shropshire, with very few places having that name anywhere else in the country.

“All this study is about is where the names have come from, and without doubt Shrewsbury has a high number of names of Welsh origin.”

Mr Webber said surnames such as Pugh, Pritchard and Parry may have started out as Welsh names, beginning with A such as Apugh, or Apew.

Researchers found that Cardiff had one of the Wales’s lowest percentage of adults with names from Wales at 21.3 per cent.

Across the border from Shrewsbury, in north Wales, they found that the proportion of Welsh names increases – up to 72 per cent in Llangefni.

By James Holt

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