diff --git a/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.manifest.json b/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.manifest.json
index 35c12691..cc5ad783 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.manifest.json
+++ b/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.manifest.json
@@ -16,5 +16,13 @@
     "description": "Current xkb layout, click cycles",
     "category": "Compositor",
     "allowMultiple": false
+  },
+  "omarchy": {
+    "clonePaths": [
+      {
+        "source": "KeyboardLayoutModel.js",
+        "target": "KeyboardLayoutModel.js"
+      }
+    ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.qml b/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.qml
index 67fba33b..0fc07191 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.qml
+++ b/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayout.qml
@@ -4,19 +4,23 @@ import Quickshell.Hyprland
 import Quickshell.Io
 import qs.Ui
 import qs.Commons
+import "KeyboardLayoutModel.js" as KeyboardLayoutModel
 
 BarWidget {
   id: root
   moduleName: "omarchy.keyboard-layout"
 
 
-  property string layoutLabel: ""
   property string layoutFull: ""
   property string keyboardName: ""
   // Nothing to read or switch on the single-layout install most people run, so
   // the widget ships on the bar and stays out of the way until there are two.
   // An older Hyprland that doesn't report the list keeps showing the label.
   property bool multipleLayouts: true
+  // Short language code per layout description ("English (US)": "en"), read from
+  // xkb's own table rather than maintained by hand.
+  property var layoutBriefs: ({})
+  readonly property string layoutLabel: KeyboardLayoutModel.shortLabel(layoutFull, layoutBriefs)
 
   function refresh() {
     if (!queryProc.running) queryProc.running = true
@@ -39,7 +43,10 @@ BarWidget {
     refreshTimer.restart()
   }
 
-  Component.onCompleted: refresh()
+  Component.onCompleted: {
+    briefsProc.running = true
+    refresh()
+  }
 
   Connections {
     target: Hyprland
@@ -67,11 +74,23 @@ BarWidget {
         root.keyboardName = String(kb.name || "")
         root.multipleLayouts = kb.layout === undefined || String(kb.layout).indexOf(",") !== -1
         root.layoutFull = kb.active_keymap
-        root.layoutLabel = kb.active_keymap.split(/\s+/)[0].substring(0, 3).toUpperCase()
       }
     }
   }
 
+  // The table only changes when xkb data is upgraded, so read it at startup and
+  // leave it alone. The bar is built per monitor, so this runs once per widget.
+  // The exotic rulesets cover layouts like trans (IPA) that ship in the same xkb
+  // package and set just as well, so load them or those labels lose their code.
+  Process {
+    id: briefsProc
+    command: ["xkbcli", "list", "--load-exotic"]
+    stdout: StdioCollector {
+      waitForEnd: true
+      onStreamFinished: root.layoutBriefs = KeyboardLayoutModel.layoutBriefs(text)
+    }
+  }
+
   Timer {
     id: refreshTimer
     interval: 600
diff --git a/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayoutModel.js b/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayoutModel.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..444f9809
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayoutModel.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+// Label math for the keyboard layout widget, kept Qt-free so it can be unit
+// tested under node (test/shell.d/keyboard-layout-test.sh).
+
+// xkbcli list prints YAML, and every layout and variant block pairs a brief with
+// the description hyprctl reports as the active keymap:
+//
+//   - layout: 'us'
+//     variant: ''
+//     brief: 'en'
+//     description: English (US)
+//
+// The models and option groups it also prints carry no brief of their own, and
+// a brief never carries past the block it was printed in, so neither reaches
+// the table.
+function layoutBriefs(text) {
+  var briefs = {}
+  var brief = ""
+
+  String(text || "").split("\n").forEach(function (line) {
+    if (/^\s*- /.test(line)) brief = ""
+
+    var field = line.match(/^  (brief|description): (.*)$/)
+    if (!field) return
+
+    if (field[1] === "brief") {
+      brief = field[2].replace(/^'|'$/g, "")
+    } else if (brief) {
+      briefs[field[2]] = brief
+      brief = ""
+    }
+  })
+
+  return briefs
+}
+
+// The brief is a short language code rather than a country one, which keeps the
+// label sensible for the layouts named after a language: Esperanto reads EO and
+// Arabic reads AR. It is the same code GNOME shows in its own indicator.
+//
+// Layouts missing from the table fall back to the first word of the description,
+// which reads as ENG/POR but at least says something.
+//
+// Nearly every brief is a bare two-letter code, but a few tack a script onto it
+// (Burmese (Zawgyi) is my-zwg) and the custom layout's is a word, so drop the
+// script and cap the result at the same three characters the fallback gets.
+// The widget sits between fixed neighbours on the bar and has no room to grow.
+function shortLabel(description, briefs) {
+  if (!description) return ""
+
+  // A description like "constructor" reaches an inherited member rather than a
+  // brief, so take the lookup only when it hands back the string it promises.
+  var brief = (briefs || {})[description]
+  var label = typeof brief === "string" && brief ? brief.split("-")[0] : description.split(/\s+/)[0]
+  return label.substring(0, 3).toUpperCase()
+}
+
+if (typeof module !== "undefined") {
+  module.exports = {
+    layoutBriefs: layoutBriefs,
+    shortLabel: shortLabel
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/shell.d/keyboard-layout-test.sh b/test/shell.d/keyboard-layout-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..fe9597f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/shell.d/keyboard-layout-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source "$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/base-test.sh"
+
+run_node_test <<'JS'
+const model = requireFromRoot('shell/plugins/bar/widgets/KeyboardLayoutModel.js')
+
+// Trimmed from xkbcli list, keeping the format of every section it prints,
+// including the options nested under an option group: those quote their
+// description and print an empty brief, one indent deeper than a layout's.
+const listing = [
+  'models:',
+  '- name: pc105',
+  '  vendor: Generic',
+  '  description: Generic 105-key PC',
+  'layouts:',
+  "- layout: 'us'",
+  "  variant: ''",
+  "  brief: 'en'",
+  '  description: English (US)',
+  "  iso639: ['eng']",
+  "  iso3166: ['USA']",
+  "- layout: 'us'",
+  "  variant: 'intl'",
+  "  brief: 'en'",
+  '  description: English (US, intl., with dead keys)',
+  "- layout: 'br'",
+  "  variant: ''",
+  "  brief: 'pt'",
+  '  description: Portuguese (Brazil)',
+  "- layout: 'epo'",
+  "  variant: ''",
+  "  brief: 'eo'",
+  '  description: Esperanto',
+  "- layout: 'latam'",
+  "  variant: ''",
+  "  brief: 'es'",
+  '  description: Spanish (Latin American)',
+  "- layout: 'mm'",
+  "  variant: 'zawgyi'",
+  "  brief: 'my-zwg'",
+  '  description: Burmese (Zawgyi)',
+  'option_groups:',
+  "- name: 'grp'",
+  '  description: Switching to another layout',
+  '  allows_multiple: true',
+  '  options:',
+  "  - name: 'grp:switch'",
+  "    brief: ''",
+  "    description: 'Right Alt (while pressed)'",
+  '    layout-specific: false',
+].join('\n')
+
+const briefs = model.layoutBriefs(listing)
+
+assertEqual(briefs['English (US)'], 'en', 'the table reads a layout brief')
+assertEqual(briefs['English (US, intl., with dead keys)'], 'en', 'the table reads a variant brief')
+assertEqual(briefs['Generic 105-key PC'], undefined, 'the table skips keyboard models')
+assertEqual(briefs['Switching to another layout'], undefined, 'the table skips option groups')
+assertEqual(briefs["'Right Alt (while pressed)'"], undefined, 'the table skips the options under a group')
+assertEqual(Object.keys(briefs).length, 6, 'the table holds nothing but the layouts')
+
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('English (US)', briefs), 'EN', 'the label is the language, not the country')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('Portuguese (Brazil)', briefs), 'PT', 'a country variant keeps its language')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('Esperanto', briefs), 'EO', 'a layout without a country still gets a code')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('Spanish (Latin American)', briefs), 'ES', 'a layout spanning countries still gets a code')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('Burmese (Zawgyi)', briefs), 'MY', 'a brief carrying a script drops it')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('A user-defined custom Layout', { 'A user-defined custom Layout': 'custom' }), 'CUS', 'a brief that is a word is cut to size')
+
+// A brief pairs with the description printed under it, so a block that prints
+// one without the other must not hand its code to the block that follows.
+const orphaned = model.layoutBriefs([
+  'layouts:',
+  "- layout: 'us'",
+  "  brief: 'en'",
+  "- layout: 'gr'",
+  '  description: Greek',
+].join('\n'))
+
+assertEqual(orphaned['Greek'], undefined, 'a brief stops at the end of its block')
+
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('Elvish (Tengwar)', briefs), 'ELV', 'an unlisted layout falls back to its description')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('English (US)', {}), 'ENG', 'the label survives an empty table')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('constructor', {}), 'CON', 'a description naming a built-in still falls back')
+assertEqual(model.shortLabel('', briefs), '', 'no keymap means no label')
+JS