Interesting for many of our readers, the site claims that Pennsylvania was not actually named for William Penn, but from the Welsh word "pen", meaning head. Several websites claim that Penn wanted to name the area New Wales but his request was denied. mapsofpa.com is one place that has the story.

On March 5, 1681, William Penn wrote to his friend Robert Turner as follows: "...this day my country was confirmed to me under the Great Seal of England with large powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania, a name the King (Charles II) would give it in honor to my father (Admiral William Penn). I chose New-Wales, being as this a pretty hilly country, but Penn being Welsh for a head (i. e. pen), as Penmaenmawr in Wales and Penrith in Cumberland and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land in England (not true), called this Pennsylvania which is the high or head woodlands. For I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New-Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it; and though I much opposed it and went to the King to have it struck out and altered, he said it was passed and he would take it upon him. Nor could twenty guineas move the undersecretaries to vary the name, for I feared lest it should be looked on as a vanity to me and not as a respect in the King, as it truly was, to my father whom he often mentions with praise."

Back to the original article. "Large tracts of land to the north and west of the city were given Welsh names. For instance Uwchlyn, Bala Cynwyd, Bryn Mawr, Llanerch, Merion, St. David's, North Wales, Gwynedd, Tredyffryn, and so on, all of which remain today, and many of which remain unpronouncable to native Pennsylvanians." Obvious to our readers, Tredyffryn is correctly spelled Tredyffrin. Note to students: it can be easier to spell Tredyffrin later in the day, especially if your classroom faces the bus circle.

Welsh settlers in Pennsylvania had an autonomous colony for a little while, too, the "Welsh Tract". Penn brought them back into the fold in 1690, abolishing their self-government. Penn really wasn't a fan of the Welsh Quakers doing their own thing. Strangely enough, I read an article about that last year, taken from Murray Rothbard's book Conceived in Liberty, over at Mises.org. In general the residents of Pennsylvania were very anti-tax, and Penn didn't become wealthy off all his land, which was the general plan. There was almost no colonial government from 1864-1868, and what taxes and rules got passed were mostly ignored. Penn appointed a deputy governor in 1868, and the Council not only didn't meet him when he arrived in America, they didn't bother to show when he came to Philadelphia. The deputy governor annoyed people for a couple years, then Penn fired him. I'm assuming when that happened in 1690 is when the Welsh stopped being effectively autonomous.