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Baby names

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Original poster

Ellis & Cai proper welsh names or chavy?

191 replies

firefirejugdypantsonfire · 29/04/2018 15:25

I need a welsh boys name for DS3. My DH is welsh but never suggests anything. I'm English.

I want something shortish and that can be easily read by non welshies.

Are Cai & Ellis options or not really Welsh names ? Hmm

I quite like Euan / Ewan but is the welsh version Iuan ? As sure that would be said differently in welsh and in England ( where we live I guess it would end up as Ian)

In the family there is already Bryn, Gareth, Huw, Dylan, Rhys, Ianto

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maymai · 08/05/2018 22:35

Sion?

tulip85 · 08/05/2018 22:29

Evan is Ifan pronounced 'E-Van' my grandfather (Taid) was called Emyr... Owain is another popular Welsh name, Steffan is the Welsh for Stephen

Andijustknew · 08/05/2018 22:24

Haydn?

DoraJar · 08/05/2018 22:18

Talking of Merthyr - I had a Great Aunt called Tydfil (my DGGF who named her after his favourite place to drink - but not on a Sunday!)

TittyGolightly · 08/05/2018 16:12

Caio if you like Cai?

Hey, if we’re going down that route, how about Llangollen, Merthyr or Llanelli?

Mousefunky · 08/05/2018 15:32

Ellis is fine but Cai is chavvy.

PeggySchuylar · 08/05/2018 11:30

Caio if you like Cai?

PeggySchuylar · 08/05/2018 11:26

Evan
Lloyd (I know it's not the Welsh spelling)
Idris
Rhodri
Macsen
Gethin
Tudor
Steffan
Merlin
Griff/Griffin
Griffith
Emrys
Cadoc
Celyn
Teilo

PeggySchuylar · 08/05/2018 11:00

I know somone whose kids were Bronwen and Llewelyn. They lived in USA for a while and people thought they had called their son

Lou-Ellen Shock

FizzyGreenWater · 08/05/2018 10:56

Loving Cynlais. We're onto proper old uncle names now aren't we!

Meurig

Gomer

Arwel

MikeUniformMike · 07/05/2018 13:05

SemperIdem, I would say Aneirin/Aneurin as A-neu-rin. The 'neu' doesn't have an equivalent english sound.
This is quite good: forvo.com/word/aneirin/

I don't think a Welsh-speaking person would use this name for a baby nowadays. Non-welsh speakers would probably say it as Ann-EYE-rin
or ANN-Ur-in.

Eu and Ei combinations are tricky.

DoraJar · 06/05/2018 00:35

My welsh cousin has a son named Cai - it is a welsh name (I think its lovely). My other welsh cousin has a son named Evan (and a daughter named Elin - known within the family as Evan & El)

Other welsh boys names I like in the family are: Lloyd, Nye, Tudor & Morgan.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 06/05/2018 00:01

Dai is just a nickname for David/Dafydd. Welsh people would think you were crazy to call your baby it.

SirVixofVixHall · 05/05/2018 11:36

I had an uncle Illytyd, but he never went out of Wales.. !

sakura06 · 04/05/2018 20:33

Both are nice names and easy for non-Welsh speakers to pronounce. As many have said, the Welsh spelling is Elis, as 'll' is a letter with a very different pronounciaton to 'l' in Welsh.

I wanted Llew for a boy, but my Scandinavian in-laws could not say 'll' at all.

SayNoToCarrots · 04/05/2018 20:12

Sorry, back several years later to say,

  • Ioan is Yo-wan
  • I know a 30 year old Alun who was always called Alan
  • I had a friend who called her son Aneurin but after a couple of weeks changed it because (a) she wasn't Welsh and people kept asking if she was and (b) people kept saying it like aneurysm. She changed it to Emanuel but always said it Emanuelle, which vaguely irritated me.
  • I don't know why I need you to know these things.
TheOriginalEmu · 04/05/2018 14:33

Gwen yes, i think you're right. I've found it interesting over the years actually, with my youngest she has a pretty unusual name that people might not automatically think of as welsh. People (non-welsh speakers, so ould be tend to pronounce it just fine....unless I've for someone reason mentioned it;swelshness first and then they seem to struggle more. I have a theory that people just assume it's going to be much harder than it is, just because 'welsh is hard'.

BertieBotts · 04/05/2018 08:05

My friend's husband is Dewi and I automatically read it as dew-ee. Then I remember that's wromg but I can't think what it is so my brain overcompensates and I go through devi, doughy, for some reason deh-wee doesn't seem to occur.

Gwenhwyfar · 04/05/2018 07:52

"People who can't pronounce Dewi utterly baffle me, it has to be said. "

I've come to the conclusion that they can't read it rather than can't pronounce it. As you say, it has no sounds that don't exist in English, but they can't reconcile the spelling with the sound I think. Shows how pointless it is for a Welsh speaker to try to find a name that English people can pronounce because you never know which perfectly simple name they won't be able to get.

TheOriginalEmu · 04/05/2018 00:03

amelia Osian isn't pronounced like that. it's Osh-an.

sproutsandparsnips · 03/05/2018 23:45

My dc are lewis rhys and Gethin Lloyd. Other suggestions:
IoloSmile
Ianto
Iestyn
Caradog
Llewelyn
Aled
Sion
Ioan
Gruffudd

AmeliaFolch · 03/05/2018 23:41

Ellis is nice but is spelt Elis in Welsh. My favourite Welsh boys name is Osian (pronounced Osh ee an). I know a Harri, a Siencyn, Mabon, Gwion, Jac and Iori. I think they're all lovely names.

iknowimcoming · 03/05/2018 23:38

I know a Caian - of welsh descent if that helps?

TheOriginalEmu · 03/05/2018 23:23

People who can't pronounce Dewi utterly baffle me, it has to be said. It's not Llyr or Gwenllian or Eifion which have difficult non-english sounds in them.
Deh-wee. simple. Once you've heard once, its not even remotely hard to say!

TheOriginalEmu · 03/05/2018 23:21

If i had another son i'd call him Taran. I do think sometimes names just work on people! Of my 3, my youngest has a very unusual (welsh) name in comparison to her siblings who's names are more common. She is the one of my 3 that is entirely fiesty enough to carry off the name and deal with the questions with a look that makes anyone who asks feel entirely stupid!

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