Welsh name for daughter - looking for opinions from Welsh speakers?

[MadsZero]

Hi all,

I'm a welsh-speaker and I'm really lucky that my husband has agreed we can give our daughter a welsh name. But because he doesn't speak welsh, I didn't consider that what he thinks sounds nice and what I think sounds nice are very different! We have finally agreed on a name that we both really like - Aeron. But there's something that's worrying me a little.

It's a unisex name that's also pretty unusual. I live where there aren't so many welsh-speakers (Newport) and the only close friends I have who speak welsh haven't heard the name used at all. I have, once or twice, but only for boys. To be honest, giving my daughter a name that's more common on boys doesn't bother me in the slightest - there are quite a few unisex welsh names that skew one direction or the other. What does worry me is that people will think I made a mistake, rather than a conscious decision. Like that I picked a name from an inaccurate internet list without knowing what it meant, rather than thinking about it pretty carefully.

Aeron is the name of a river (which is a common source of given names in welsh), which apparently got its name from a long-forgotten battle god who had male and female aspects. It's also, coincidentally, the welsh word for "berries" which is a feminine noun, and names from the natural world are a very common source for girls names in welsh. It's listed as a unisex name in the baby name book I got from a welsh language press compiled by a respected welsh academic. So like...I think on logic it makes sense as a girl's name. Plus I like it a lot and haven't found another name I'm happy with.

But I wanted to know, from other welsh speakers, if you met a girl named Aeron, would you shrug and go, "Oh, okay, fair enough..." (like Teifi or Eirian) or would it be as weird as a little girl named Aled or Dylan or Iestyn?

Am very happy to continue the conversation in welsh or english! Hapus i barhau'r sgwrs yng nhymraeg neu'n saesneg!

[Soubriquet]

I'm not Welsh at all but is it pronounced like Aaron just with a softer A (air instead of Ah)

Seeing it written down it looks very girly, but spoken out loud some people might hear Aaron..

[MadsZero]

It's pronounce "EY-ron" where the "EY" rhymes with "hey".

I think people probably will mistake it for Aaron and a bunch of other stuff written down, tbh, but I've made my peace with that as much as possible, because it's a problem with most Welsh names. Even when they're chosen specifically to be easy to pronounce in English, there are often issues. Not necessarily cus people are trying to be mean or anything, but just because on auto-pilot you see a name and your mind corrects it to what's familiar to you.

[Soubriquet]

It's a lovely name. It really is. But can you deal with correcting people all the time?

[MadsZero]

Aww, thanks, it's really nice to hear that someone else likes it too.

As to correcting people, yeah, I'm mostly okay with that if they're non-welsh speakers. I'd almost certainly have to deal with that issue anyway unless I gave up on giving her a welsh name, which I don't want to do. My real fear is other welsh speakers' reactions, I think, hence hoping there are some here! I used to live in a more welsh speaking area, but now I don't so sources of opinions are limited...

Though it's definitely nice to know what other people's feelings are on the name too. If the feeling is that it's a nice name, just one that needs spelling out, I can cope with that!

[JustAnotherPoster00]

Never heard it used for a girl OP

[NauticalDisaster]

I'm not a Welsh speaker (yet) but it is a lovely name and I wouldn't bat an eyelash if I met a girl with that name. FYI I was able to guess the pronunciation based of spelling, so I don't think you'll have many problems in South Wales with non Welsh speakers.

[reallyanotherone]

I like it. Not welsh speaking but Welsh grandparents.

o/t but I love Teifi.

[MyNewBearTotoro]

I'm not a fluent Welsh speaker but grew up in Wales and have a fairly good grasp of the language. Many of my friends are first language Welsh speakers and I've only ever known males called Aeron. I would think it was a boys name, sorry.

[GinAndOnIt]

I'm okay-ish with the Welsh language, but, I will say, I worked in a primary school in Newport about five years ago with a girl with this name, and there was a lot of correcting and people assuming she was a boy named Aaron. If you can put up with that, I think go for it.

[slightlyglitterbrained]

Aeron as a girl's name sounds fine to me.

[therootoftheroot]

As to correcting people, yeah, I'm mostly okay with that if they're non-welsh speakers. I'd almost certainly have to deal with that issue anyway unless I gave up on giving her a welsh name, which I don't want to do.



just bear in mind that although correcting people might be your issue at first, it will be your daughter's issue for the rest of her life.

[mamapants]

I'm a Welsh speaker and would assume it's a boys name but would soon get used to it. Eiriona is a similar one that I've heard for girls

[MadsZero]

Thanks guys - I really appreciate the breadth of opinions. It seems most people would either get used to it or not find it too weird, though I am glad to hear the honest reactions of people who'd assume it was for boys.

I did wonder though, for those of you who would assume it was a boys' name/have only heard it on boys, if you DID meet a girl with that name, would you get used to it (as mamapants said she would) or think there was something really odd going on?

Like a few years back I met a boy named Tirion which surprised me, but didn't phase me that much. But if I met a boy named Mari, then I'd definitely wonder what the story was behind that choice, you know?

Also, wow, great to hear of someone else actually meeting a girl with the same name, even if it was constantly mistaken for Aaron. ;)

(As a final note, yeah, I am very much aware that giving her a welsh name comes with baggage that she will eventually have to deal with in terms of correcting people. It also comes with positives if she chooses to participate in welsh-language culture, etc. One of the reasons I want to do this stems from my experiences as a welsh speaker in welsh language communities with a very english-sounding name. What's best for her will probably depend on what life she wants as an adult, and that's not something I can predict.)

[miwelaisjacydo]

Haf is popular around here summer in Welsh
Lwsi is another around here
enfys is another Welsh for rainbow

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

Welsh speaker.
I'd assume it's a boy's name.

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

Cross posts. I'd assume you have used a boy's name for a girl. People do it often enough.

[MadsZero]

OhtoblazeswithElvira - ti'n golygu fel yn bwrpasol wedi defnyddio enw bachgen iddi, neu 'di neud o ar gam? Dw i'n gallu byw 'da'r cyntaf... ;)

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

Yn bwrpasol. Ond yn anffodus dwyt ti ddim yn gallu stopio pobl diarth rhag meddwl fod ti wedi gwneud cangymeriad.

[callycat1]

Do you live in Wales?

[AdaLovelacesCat]

I live in Wales and have only met a male Aeron.
Wasn't Dylan Thomas's daughter called Aeronwy?

[AdaLovelacesCat]

In fact I believe it may have been Elvis Presley's middle name but it got changed to Aaron

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

Just to complicate things, DP who's another siaradwr Cymraeg thinks it's more of a girl's name

He says Dylan Thomas's daughter was called Aeronwy (apparently he lived by the banks of the river). Could this be another option OP?

[MadsZero]

Ie, ti'n iawn ar hynny, ond diolch i ti am dy farn bersonol, mae'n ddefnyddiol.

callycat1 - yes, though currently in Newport which is very non-welsh speaking. We don't plan to stay here long-term though - we're just here due to my husband's work which will be coming to an end in two years. At that point, we're currently planning to move back to West Wales (though obviously that may or may not happen - life is unpredictable!)

[MadsZero]

Fast posting!

Elvira - yes, Aerona and Aeronwy are two other options, but neither of us likes them quite as much. I really like the way Aeron ends on a consonant - very solid. But thanks for bringing them up as options. And also for passing on that there's at least one other person out there like me, who thinks it's a great name for a girl! Diolch eto!

[callycat1]

Fair enough. Should be fine then. I think very Welsh names, not ones adopted into mainstream English, can be very difficult outside Wales.