Erwan

Erwan is one of Brittany's signature names, a Breton form tied to Yves and, through it, to the old Celtic word for the yew tree—a wood used for bows and hallowed in Druidic memory. Saint Erwan, better known as Yves of Tréguier, is the patron of lawyers and the poor, and his feast day still draws pilgrims along the northern coast. The name moves in two clean syllables, the opening E bright, the final n left hanging in the French manner. Popular in Brittany, rare elsewhere. Erwan arrives with sea air and stone chapels in tow. Quietly heroic.