Arfon Jones, in setting up the petition said: “Wales is a name imposed on Cymru and is essentially not a Welsh word at all.
“The world knows about Wales because of its English connection since 1282. Hardly anyone has heard of Cymru or realises that we have our own unique language and culture which is totally different from the other countries within the United Kingdom.”
So far, over 5,000 people have agreed with him and have signed the petition. Most of the signatures appear to be in Plaid Cymru strongholds of Arfon (367 signatures), Dwyfor Meirionnydd (297 signatures) and Ynys Mon (214 signatures) in North Wales.
When Welsh Government petitions get more than 250 signatures they are considered by the Senedd Petitions Committee once the petition has closed.
Petitions with more than 10,000 signatures are considered for a debate in the Senedd.
A petition calling on the Welsh Government to scrap the controversial 20mph speed limit changes has reached over 460,000 signatures.
Last year, the Brecon Beacons National Park scrapped it’s English Language name and is now called Bannau Brycheiniog. That decision has split opinion with some claiming the Welsh only name will hurt tourism.
In 2022, Snowdonia and Snowdon also removed their English names and are now referred to as Eryri and Yr Wyddfa.
The petition to scrap the name Wales is open until June.
