My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Baby names

Welsh/Celtic/Irish/Scottish names for kids

47 replies

mummytigger · 15/05/2011 23:23

I've noticed there is a serious lack of any proper Celtic or very Welsh/Irish names about - all the babies at the moment seem to be Jayden, Cayden, Bayden, Hayden... YUCK! - so if you know one that you think is perfect then put it in here!

I'm currently pregnant with Carwyn-James Evans, and as a contingency name (in case he "doesn't look like a Carwyn" - other half) we have Osian (pronounced OSH-an).

For the future we have two girls names in mind which I love - Anwen and Enfys.

Got it all sorted! But if you know any that are more off the beaten track, then please say them!

OP posts:
Report
TeamLemon · 15/05/2011 23:28

I have a Dewi.
He was possibly going to be Nye/Aneurin

Report
missmelo · 15/05/2011 23:32

I love Arwen for a girl

Report
hester · 16/05/2011 00:03

Oisin for a boy, Roisin for a girl Smile

Report
pilates · 16/05/2011 12:49

My maternal grandmother was an Olwyn (nn Olly)

Also really like Orla and Cerys but perhaps not that unusual enough for you.

Report
BikeRunSki · 16/05/2011 12:52

If I had any Welsh connections at all, I would name another DS after the great Aneurin Bevan. I am not sure that going to uni there 20+ years ago counts, and pretty sure Aneurin/Nye is a bit too distinctive for our little Yorkshire pit village.

Report
shouldnotbehere · 16/05/2011 13:28

I love the boys name Gwydion. I live in N Wales and nearly all our friends have chosen Welsh names for their children.

Report
valiumbandwitch · 16/05/2011 18:42

I don't know any Caydens or Braydens.

I do know a few Dylans and a Bethan and an Olwen though. lovely names.

What about Irona? Is that Welsh?

Report
mouffloncake · 16/05/2011 19:06

Enfys is pretty, doesn't it translate to rainbow?
I like seren too, welsh for star.
My mum is welsh. Her name is Meinir (last r is rolled).

Report
lostinwales · 16/05/2011 19:17

Rhodri, Arwel, Tomos, Owain, Gwilym, Ivor (Ifor), Idris, Dylan (Duh-lan though NOT Dillon ) Aled, Wyn, Dafydd, Iwan, Rhys, love Osian and Carwyn. Ooh and I forgot Huw, keep telling DH we need to have another boy as I forgot how much I loved that name after I had DS3 and didn't get to use it!

Not very good on girls names as I have none but do like Gwen, Delyth, Cerys, Eira (snow), Haf (Summer) and Seren (star), oh I'm going to have to have more children (or one with a very long name) there are so many lovely ones out there, oh and Megan which was DS3's name for a while until we realised the scan had got it wrong....

Report
mummytigger · 17/05/2011 09:20

Loving all the names so far - we've build up a hell of a collection :D Kepp it coming!

Also - Aneurin is already a contender for number 2 when we decide it's time to try again :D I love that name, it's beautiful! And yes, Enfys is Rainbow :D Meinir we love as well, but we know several people by that name and it would have caused a bit of a family ruckus if we pick that one for a girl.

OP posts:
Report
dottyaboutstripes · 17/05/2011 10:14

Taliesin. It was a bit much for English DH to take in though!

Report
BooBearBoo · 17/05/2011 20:52

Maiwenn is beautiful for a girl. I know a Maiwenn Enfys. Lovely.

Report
blushingm · 17/05/2011 20:56

we have Ewan & Erin so irish and scottish. We love in Wales though.

i used to go to school with Hedd - means peace. i liked that

Report
blushingm · 17/05/2011 20:57

Erin's best friend is Mairwen - which i think is really pretty

Report
goodegg · 17/05/2011 21:06

In Scotland there are quite a few Scottish names. I think it might be the same in Ireland and Wales. If you hear mostly English names I assume you live in England?!

Not judging if you want to use btw, just thought your OP a bit weird!

Report
Crikeyblimey · 17/05/2011 21:25

Dh is Welsh, so we wanted a Welsh middle name for ds (middle name so he didn't spend his life spelling it over the phone). He's Ieuan (pronounced Yiyan) and he loves it!

Report
mummytigger · 18/05/2011 13:21

That's the thing though, GoodEgg! I actually live in South Wales, and most of the people I know have very generic and rather boring names. My partner is from near Llanelli so he's got a much broader range of friends, with some lovely welsh names, but mostly all I hear are the common ones. We only know one Carwyn, which is part of the reason why we picked that name - because it's a little unusual but not so bad that he'll be bulled about it.

Mairwen is GORGEOUS! What a lush name! And we thought about Ieuan, but it was very close to my partners name, Iwan, and so he vetoed that almost immediately.

OP posts:
Report
nearlymumofone · 18/05/2011 14:21

Leisha or gaelic spelling of Laoisa

Report
elah11 · 18/05/2011 14:41

There are some lovely irish names out there also:
Aoife (f) EE-fa
Áine (f) AW-nya
Róisín (f) ROW-sheen
Doireann (f) DI-ren
Ailbhe (f) AL-veh
Eimear (f) EE-mer
Cian (m) KEE-an
Ódhrán (m) OAR-awn
Cillian (m) KILL-ee-an
Aodhan (m) AY-gawn or AY-dhawn
Ruadhrí (m) ROO-ree or ROO-a-ree

Report
GooseyLoosey · 18/05/2011 14:43

My children both have fab Irish names - not telling what they are though!

Report
BibiThree · 18/05/2011 14:46

I have a Carys, an Eleri (if it sounds like celery you're saying it wrong) and a Lowri (low as in low down)

Carys fairly popular in S Wales, Eleri and Lowri not so much.

If I had another daughter she would be Anwen

Report
BibiThree · 18/05/2011 14:47

mummytigger Hello! I'm near Cardiff too [waves]

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 18/05/2011 14:54

I had aunties called Rhiannon, Olwen and Mair, and uncles called Eirwyn, Arfon and Eifion. Worked with Delyth, Carys, Carian and Bethan. I loved the name Megan, but it was very popular for a time.

Report
Cattleprod · 18/05/2011 15:08

Well Hayden is actually a traditional Old English name, and has absolutely nothing in common with all the Kayden/Shayden/Brayden/Chavden/JeremyKyleden type names. Just because it has a similar sound, it certainly doesn't have the same connotations. Smile

There are quite a few Celtic etc names around though - I've come across children called Aoife, Roisin, Erin, Ewan, Rhys etc.

Report
MrsTwinks · 18/05/2011 15:40

My Dad is proper Irish Catholic (97 cousins I kid you not) so we have loads of the more unusual names, and Im determined to use them even if stupid scottish inlaws want normal names

Aiobheann is one I've been banned from having , which is basically Eavan (evaline) with a very irish spelling. Otherwise,

Boys:
Eoin
Fionn
Tadhg (pronouced like tiger without the "r")
and the more common irish versions of english names (Seamus, Sean, Liam wtc) some are really pretty...

Girls:
Dympna
Caoimhe (queeva)
Abina
Sive
Grainne

My fave if I could (ie in if hubby was welsh and I could use it and not get told off my a horde of irish people lol) I really love Myfanwy

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.