Definitely want a welsh name, any thoughts on shortlist?

I'm good (nauseous though), 9+3 today. Scan isn't until the 7th, feels like ages away!

I think Huw is lovely, and it's quite nice if he has the same name as his Granddad actually... But maybe that's just me!

Well hello night! Long time no natter.

As you know I am in Wales and also due in Feb, went on the baby names board for a bit of inspiration and thought "Oooh a Welsh names thread, I'll have a look at that". Well lo and behold it's your lovely self!!

Welsh names that we are thinking about:

Owen
Huw
Rhodri

Catrin
Rhiannon
Ffion
Nia

My DH really likes Osian, but I have an ex with a very similar name... I really like Carys as well, but it just DOES NOT work with our surname (dammit)! Welsh names are so lovely.

Some lovely lovely names here. Has anyone mentioned Llinos?

But not a fan of Eirlys......ruined for me by a very nasty snake in the grass!

Just looked at your list again ad Bleddyn jumped out at me. I love it. I know there is the pronunciation issue with the 'dd' but I think it's lovely.

Oh and in case it wasn't obvious, my name is Ceri- when I lived in South of England for six months I had a LOT of people pronouncing it 'Seri' but though it was draining at times, it didn't put me off and I love having a Welsh name, so I wouldn't worry too much about that!

patty surely they meant "Caleb"?

Thanks absolutelynotfabulous and CeriBerry

Someone suggested Caled for a boy - please don't, it means 'hard'.

Aled, like Aled Jones, is acceptable - it's the name of a river.

Purplehulk, I believe the Heledd I mentioned is rapidly making her way up the ranks of a large and prestigious firm. Worry not.

I like Seren for a girl and Emrys for a boy.

Patty I love you!
I have a teen DD named Heledd and for the past few months have been stressed that I've limited her opportunities in life by giving her such a hard to pronounce name

ceri I get what you mean. I'm from the SE of Wales and say eye-rrrliss. But my friends (West Walian) and dd say it more like the way you do. The "eye" bit is pronounced more like ey or ay even (hard to write it down).

I noticed (on Singer of the World the other day) that Elin (M.Thomas) was pronounced almost like AIR-Lin (which is presumably how Elin herself pronounces it) and Petroc (Trelawny, presenter) had quite a lot of trouble with it.

I agree too with SirVix: if I were the Op I'd stick with straightforward names that don't involve "Rh", "ll" and other letters that don't occur in English.

I agree with CeriBerry. In Welsh we sound each letter, and as Welsh is phonetic you need to have a grasp of the Welsh alphabet and its sounds to pronounce names properly unless they are very obvious ones like Gwen.
www.wales.com/Media/ViewImage.aspx?FilePath=2009_20140818171524_e_@@_welshscrabbletiles.jpg&FileType=5
For instance, as you can see above, in Welsh "Rh" is a letter. It isn't the same as R , but Rhodri will be sounded Rodry by English people. It is hard to describe certain sounds in words, you really need to hear it and be familiar with the sound. If you are living in England it is better IMO to go for a name that will be pronounced properly by Welsh and English speakers alike, rather than a name that only Welsh speakers will ever get right.

I'm Welsh (first language, work in a Welsh school, doing my degree in Welsh) and Eirlys doesn't sound anything like Eye-rliss the way I say it- at all!! It's very hard to explain in English but it's
More like "eh-r-liss." It's a bit like Aneurin though, in that when you say it as a Welsh speaker it doesn't have a nye sound in it at all- it's An-eh-rin" (though I know Nye is an accepted nickname for it!)

I once met a very clever woman called Eluned. Said with a Welsh accent - approx Eh-LINN-et (apologies if this is wrong, I am not Welsh) - it sounded rather pretty. Reminded me of little linnet birds.

But agree with other posters that Arianwen and Emrys are great names.

TheCow: I'd pronounce Eirlys as EYE-rrrrliss with the accent on 'eye'.

They're all lovely names. I knew a lovely lady called Eirlys. I didn't know it meant snowdrop, which makes it even nicer . I've only heard it pronounced by English speakers though so would be nice to hear it said by someone Welsh! I'll have to google.
I've always like Aneurin too

Lots of these names fit the 'granny' fashion for me. Lots of great aunts and uncles etc with some of these names. It's lovely to see them coming back.

These are my favourites from your list.

Aneira
Arianwen
Ceridwen
Emrys

I love Ceridwen and Eleri, they're both on my imaginary list. Same goes for Eira (but it wouldn't work with our last name). Iestyn, Lloyd, Cariad.

DH is Welsh and jokes that he's going to go to secretly register future children as either Blodwny-Myfanwy or Gatch Boy Bach! (Boy Bach isn't a namename, it means small boy in Welsh!)

No one has mentioned Mabli yet - I believe it's a Welsh form of Mabel? i used to know a very cute little one, but it seems to go with the current granny names fashion as well as welsh

If I was choosing names again I would think about using Gwenllian (not a name I'd heard of before researching DH's family tree) and can be shortened to Gwen.

How about Caled for a boy? One of DH's cousins sons is called this.

We have a Bethan and Morgan, but live in England so whilst wanting Welsh names also needed them to be fairly straightforward to spell and pronounce!

Arianwen is gorgeous! I've always loved Seren for a girl too.

Boys names leave me blank but I do find Aneurin reminds me of something in the brain? Sorry OP!

I love the name Emrys and would love to name a DS that, but I'm not Welsh so think I couldn't get away with it.