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Original poster

Welsh speakers advice please

139 replies

wineapotamus · 12/12/2016 10:04

Hi all,
How would you pronounce the name Efa? I'm 3rd generation Welsh and can say things like nos da, mochyn and cariad that my main called me when I was small. My son has a Welsh name that I love and I'd like my little one (due in March) to have a Welsh name too, but I'm getting lots of variation on how this would be pronounced. Like eefah or ever or effer?
Diolch and all that xxx

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Dolwar · 05/01/2017 21:40

I love Buddug. It is the Welsh for Victoria and comes from Queen Boudicca so is a very strong female name.

mamabeak · 28/12/2016 14:49

I would avoid Efa as it is an -a ending which is (more usually) a female name ending in English and I think it would lead to confusion with Eva, too.

I second the suggestion of something less unusual and for which the pronuciation is more fixed.

Superaspie · 28/12/2016 11:43

I've got two girls with Welsh names.

Celyn and Carys.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 28/12/2016 11:32

air-va. Autocorrect wants 'air-raid'

allowlsthinkalot · 28/12/2016 11:28

Alun rather than Alyn

allowlsthinkalot · 28/12/2016 11:26

Efa (e as in elephant, va as in van) is a very well known name where I live in Wales. It is the Welsh version of Eva.

MikeUniformMike · 18/12/2016 17:29

How strange to put a circumflex on the y - it means than the (welsh) y sound is longer. I rather like the name Tesni. And it has the advantage of the shortened version being pretty and a pretty meaning too.

Don't like Efa much, and I'm not sure that there are many welsh males called Adda.

longdiling · 15/12/2016 21:12

I know this has moved on a bit but I feel compelled to back up WellErr here. I completely agree with her. I'm half Welsh, half English. My husband is English. My 9 year old son has had the piss taken out of him at school for having an English Dad. Should I tell him to lighten up and put up with being picked on because of the sodding Welsh Not?!

Elphame · 15/12/2016 19:35

No - it's my middle name and it's on my birth certificate complete with the circumflex I was named after my father's sister and got off lightly! My poor father got the full patronymic style.

DD is Tesni ( Tess nee)

MikeUniformMike · 15/12/2016 18:50

Is your husband really called Wŷn? Never seen or heard that one before. Wyn is quite common as a middle name, and I know a few who have it as a first name, but not with a circumflex. It's a good name as it sounds like Win.
What is DD's name?

Elphame · 14/12/2016 11:17

I'm Welsh but married to a Sais.... (the rest of the family have never forgiven me). One of my names is Wŷn. Hated it when I was a child but I love it now.

DS has a name that exists in both English and Welsh, I wanted Iestyn or Geraint but was persuaded that as we were living in England at the time he'd face a lifetime of misspelling and mispronunciation. I still regret it though. I should have stuck to my guns

I got full naming rights for DD though - she has a very beautiful Welsh name that is pretty rare even in the Welsher parts of Wales. She now lives in England herself but apart from the tendency of her English friends to pronounce the "s" as "z" people generally get it almost right!

Original poster
wineapotamus · 12/12/2016 17:12

Blimey! I went to work for a few hours and look what happened! I'm probably everyone's least favourite sort, I support Wales in the rugby but speak not a word of it, haven't been to Wales for ages or seen my Welsh relations, but still well up when I hear Land of my Fathers or a male voice choir. I like the idea of honouring my heritage, so thank you very much to everyone who helped me out and gave advice. And I now know what to say to my great aunts and uncles next time I go back for a visit! Aunty Blod will be delighted I've picked up a few words! Grin

OP posts:
BratFarrarsPony · 12/12/2016 14:54

Buddug is a superb name...

ElphabaTheGreen · 12/12/2016 14:38

Of course it is Patty. Silly me.

(Diolch MUM/MAM)

Izzy24 · 12/12/2016 14:38

I wouldn't use a name ending in 'an' unless you don't mind that it will be prounounced 'un' instead of 'an'.

Eg
Meg-an
Beth-an

Just disappointing to hear 'Meg-un, Beth-un' and so on I think.

I know several of Buddugs MUCH younger than 90.

(Poor things...)

PattyPenguin · 12/12/2016 14:36

Anyway, back to Efa. It's in the Bible - Adda ac Efa are Adam and Eve.

MikeUniformMike · 12/12/2016 14:34

Bwcha bant WellErrr

WellErrr · 12/12/2016 14:29

Thing is, if I'd gone on a thread saying 'All the Welsh are arseholes' and then a Welsh person pointed out that that was pretty bad form, I'd like to see how they'd respond to 'lighten the fuck up' or similar. Probably not well.

Or any other race, for that matter.

ElphabaTheGreen · 12/12/2016 14:27

I know the idiom, but literally translates as 'go and scratch'. I also accidentally wrote 'your' upthread rather than 'you', preceding 'big cunt'. But I do know exactly what the intention is and why it is the perfect response to 'twll dyn' etc.

(Trying to recall a Welsh idiom for 'lighten the fuck up' and failing...)

wheelwithinawheel · 12/12/2016 14:27

Eh-Va (the 'e' sounding like when you say the letter 'A' aloud in English, with without the 'y' sound at the end, iykwim!). It is a lovely name, I know two and they are lovely girls.

BratFarrarsPony · 12/12/2016 14:25

interesting thanks....

WellErrr · 12/12/2016 14:24

'Go to scratch' means go to hell, it's the literal translation but is v much an insult meaning go to hell.

BratFarrarsPony · 12/12/2016 14:22

(if anyone thinks I am being smug , I told them both to 'go and scratch, you great big cunts')
You can see that the free Welsh lessons were not wasted on me...Grin

WellErrr · 12/12/2016 14:22

It means 'go to hell you big cunt,' not scratch.

You seem to think it's ok. Whatever. When I hear people talking like you, I always think it says far more about them as a person, than about the English.

ElphabaTheGreen · 12/12/2016 14:18

I'm scratching, I'm scratching Grin

Also, I'm not Welsh - second language fluent Welsh speaker, my first language is Australian.

You want to hear continuous low-level racism against the English, WellErr, pay a visit to my homeland.

I had a lovely time in Wales - the elderly people I worked with loved me apologising for marrying a Pom and not a nice Welsh boy.

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