Morphology: brith+tir
Phonetic: brr-ith-dee-rr
The name apparently refers to how the land appeared when the village was first settled – "brith" means speckled or mottled and "tir" is land. When used together it most probably means that the land or soil in the area was of medium quality or perhaps full of scattered stones, mixed soil or vegetation. A number of examples of the place name exist from the early 17th century onwards, often relating to the chapel location rather than a village. Shown as Capelbruthetere on Pieter van den Keere's map of Monmouthsire in 1605, then Gwaylod y Bryth Tire 1693, Tyr kefen y Breethdir 1702, the hamlet of Brithdecr around 1750 and becoming Capel-y-Brithdir on maps of 1843 and 1885.