Welsh names

LouiseBrooks, people who only speak one language, typically English, really struggle.Anything vaguely complicated and you will get eye-rolling, throat or phlegm clearing, WTAF type comments, etc.

Yes I know since I have in my family a Lowri, Rhian, Llewellyn, Catrin, Efa and even a Meinir (cue jokes about miners of course). Half the time it's just laziness or, as a friend of mine once said, "the spirit of the Empire" being alive and well, rather than not being able to pronounce some of them (Lowri and Efa for example are hardly difficult). I personally think we shouldn't give in to it but I'm a stubborn cow.

I also love Jac

I also love Rhiannon (my Mam)
Mair (gran)
Blodwen,
Blodyn,
Cariad,
I also love Blodeuwedd (from Mabinogion but send her to Karate lessons)
Elin

If my beautiful girl (called Efa Miwriel) had been a boy she would have probably been Macsen (last Roman Governor and a bit of a hero).
I also love:
Afon,
Dewi,
Arthen,
Huw,
Dylan,
Twm Sion
Rhys! (I am Rhys Dyfed!!)
Dyfed!
Llyr,
Aled,
Llew, and Llywelyn,
Osian,
I also love Bendigeidfran (from Mabinogion but a bit of a mouthful! LOL)
Aled,
Alun,
Jac.

well I knew a Seren who must be at least 60 by now, so that is nonsense.

My favourite girls' names in Welsh are Angharad (the English would murder it and make it 'Anger-ad') and Buddug..:) make of the latter what you will, Anglophones.

Favourite boys' names - Iestyn, Ieuan, Ianto. If you are going to be living in England, these could present a problem.

Bethan, Carys and Dylan are definitely not Sharon and Darren in this part of Wales. They are more Catherine and David. Names that you'll find in all classes and generations.

Seren is also a popular name that has been used for 30+ years (Welsh speaker here)

“Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language” Dale Carnegie

Not good when somebody decides that your "That has to be a pisstake" name contains a spit in it.

LouiseBrooks, people who only speak one language, typically English, really struggle.Anything vaguely complicated and you will get eye-rolling, throat or phlegm clearing, WTAF type comments, etc.

For example, they will simply not understand that a Tobias is Tob-ee-as not Tob-eye-as or that Ffion isn't really Fiona or that Rhian isn't pronounced Ree-Anne.

You can't change these people, but you can make your life easier for your children . I know it's not right but having had someone poke fun at your name is awful.

I know I am generalising a bit but I have been upset by it more than once.

Rhidian
Rhys
Sion
Aled
Elis
Macsen

Ffion
Cadi
Cerys
Carys
Sian

I get that Well. Dylan, Carys and Bethan seem dated to welsh speakers because they were very popular in the 1960s. They're Darren and Karen type names to me, but to people who don't speak welsh they seem new and fresh.

Mike the three Caryses I know are all very much under 50 and none of them speak Welsh (but all live and were born in Wales).

I really like Halwyn for a boy. I think it means 'salt'. And Hal is a great nickname.

Oo i like Lowri too

I like Eira for a girl but had 2 boys
I like Osian, Harri, Ellis (or Elis)

Most English people wouldn’t have a clue with some of the names.

Well perhaps they could learn? Admittedly most English people seem incapable of pronouncing LL properly (I have English cousins and grew up mostly in England and most people say, for example, Loo or - even worse - Clue for Llew) but many of those mentioned on this thread are not especially difficult and if told once how to pronounce them shouldn't prove much of an issue.

Choose the name YOU like.

I like Catrin and Aled. Carys would be a 50+ yr old welsh speaker.
I like Llŷr and Llew too but not sure if they would work in England.
Some of the welsh names get mangled by non-welsh speaking welsh folk too and some sound a bit different depending on location.

My all time favourite Welsh boys names are Llyr and Llew, but they will be horribly mangled and mispronounced outside Wales.

I live in Wales, not Welsh speaking, but like all Welsh people I know the pronunciation ‘rules’. So all those names are easy for me to pronounce and spell. Most English people wouldn’t have a clue with some of the names. Stick to the straightforward Welsh names.

I love Catrin and Aled. Love love love. Also love Carys in a big way.

I'll probably get flamed but I would avoid names with:
Rh, ngh
ei, eu ,ew
ia
Ae, Au
uw
yw
Ge, Gi
Ce, Ci
Ch
Ll
F
Dd
letter combinations as they tend not to travel. Names ending in -an tend to sound like -un etc. Try the names out to see if they are wet with an WTF attitude or if they get mangled. If you are ok with Elin pronounced as ELL-in then go for it.
(FWIW the welsh pronunciation of Elin is ELL-in with the I sounding like the i in the english word big)

Ceinwen
Rhian
Rhiannon
Lowri

Dylan
Rhodri
Owen
Owain
Llewyn

It sounds a bit made up. I'm not keen on Gwen-, Gwyn- or -wyn and -wen names. I hate when names get the wrong suffix like Bronwyn or Olwyn. They're just wrong. They're Bronwen and Olwen, both lovely.

Caradog
Meredydd
Huw
Ieuan
Gareth
Taliesin
Iolo
Llewellyn

Is Gwenlli a real name?

Yes.