Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages. The character corresponds to the Welsh "Gwalchmei ap Gwyar", and is known in Latin as "Walwen", "Gualguanus", "Waluanus", etc.; in French as "Gauvain"; and in English as Gawain. The later forms are generally assumed to derive from the Welsh "Gwalchmei". The element "Gwalch" means hawk, and is a typical epithet in medieval Welsh poetry. The meaning of "mei" is uncertain. It has been suggested that it refers to the month of May ("Mai" in Modern Welsh), rendering "Hawk of May", though scholar Rachel Bromwich considers this unlikely. Kenneth Jackson suggests the name evolved from an early Common Brittonic name *"Ualcos Magesos", meaning "Hawk of the Plain".