Welsh names

Taliesman

Fflyn is awful

Do you speak welsh, mamansnet and are you in a welsh-speaking part of Wales?

If not I'd scrub out several of those names.

Hâf - ok
Alaw -ok
Aranwy - no. don't like it. is it made up? I'd guess you were from the Bala area.
Arianwen - no. It is Ar-YAN-wen not Arry Anwen
Carys - dated
Eleri / Meleri - yes but it is El-ERRy. Prefer Teleri (Tel-ERRy)
Fflur - Beautiful but not if you can't say it properly. see pp
Glain - Rhymes with Cline. Pretty but quirky. It makes a pretty middle name
Gwennan - Gwenan is the conventional spelling
Gwenllian - has a diaeresis on the i. Beautiful but pronunciation difficulties. Short version is Llio
Lleucu - lovely but won't travel. I'd avoid.
Llinos - avoid outside welsh wales
Mair - avoid outside welsh wales
Menai - lovely and will work outside wales.
Meinir - I should like it but i know several. Avoid outside welsh wales -n they'll only get the consonants right.
Myfanwy - No. Lovely sung by a male voice choir though.
Rhiannon/Rhianwen/Rhian - Nice, not nice, dated. Pronunciation issues
Seirian (can't have Seren) - both awful
Tesni - ok

Haven't confirmed the sex yet though I think it's a girl. I've got a Welsh names book, but nothing jumps out at me as it did for DS.

It'll be a middle name so anything goes, the only criteria is that French DH has to be able to pronounce it - why is why I didn't get Llŷr for DS, gutted! He can say Ll but can't roll an R straight afterwards.

This list looks quite long but hand on heart, I can't say I love any of them. Hâf is probably the frontrunner, although I might be accused of stealing the idea from a friend!

Feel free to add, we haven't decided a first name yet so would be good to have several options to try out!

Hâf
Alaw
Aranwy
Arianwen
Carys
Eleri / Meleri
Fflur
Glain
Gwennan
Gwenllian
Lleucu
Llinos
Mair
Menai
Meinir
Myfanwy
Rhiannon/Rhianwen/Rhian
Seirian (can't have Seren)
Tesni

You need to watch The Snow Spider on BBC Wales. Lovely names for characters and actors. I was quite taken with the welsh spelling Fflyn instead of Flynn

would not, wold

Upthread someone had Fflur as being Fleer - it isn't. I wold say fleer as Flee-er. The u isn't ee, unless you are in some parts of Wales.

The u sound is tongue in a horseshoe shape and say ee.

The slight mispronunciations aren't too bad - Macsen will be Macsun, try to get people to say Macsen and you'll get Mac Sen.

What you get is transposed vowels - Clywd for Clwyd, Gwylim for Gwilym etc
You will get name substitutions like Glenys for Glesni, Bethany for Bethan, Serena for Seren etc

I forgot to add that some of the suggestions will be middle-aged or old people names. Brian and Carol type names.

@AderynOren @mamansnet, PM me if you want to a view on any possible manglings, but I usually comment anyway.

I'm trying to figure out CaffiSaliMali's name. I think I know.

My Welsh name is mispronounced daily. Bit annoying at times, but largely doesn't bother me. It bothers other people (my Mam, her family, DH and good friends) more than it bothers me.

It's always worth thinking about possible mispronunciations and whether you can live with them.

I have a Welsh (but not welsh speaking) colleague who pronounces Seren as 'Serrun' and Osian as 'Oshun' for example. They will be common errors, like 'dill-un' for Dylan and 'Meg-un' for Megan.

Eira will get 'Ay-ruh', Macsen 'macksun' as mentioned above and Tomos 'Thomas'.

For what it's worth I wouldn't change my name. It's very easy to say (has been suggested on this thread) so I'm not sure why so many people get it wrong, every sound in it exists in English, but one syllable has two possible sounds in English and people pick the wrong one most of the time. I like that it reflects my Welsh heritage. I get a few xenophobic comments, but most comments are complimentary.

Placemarking as I need one too and can't decide!

Macsen
Idris
Gethin
Aneurin

Megan
Alys
Seren

These were on our shortlist - as it happens all are very straightforward for non-Welsh speakers to pronounce. DH is of Welsh heritage but we live in England. We have a Macsen (Max); our friends say Mack-sun ( to rhyme with Jackson, which is popular round here) but we knew that and don't mind.

Just googled Caio and it IS a name, meaning Joy. Said Kyo though, not Kayo as I'd have thought.

It's not a Welsh name as much as a Welsh place name, but I put this one aside as a potential when we drove through it: Caio.

Bear in mind that some of the names suggested will be misspelt, some will not be welsh, and that it usually the same few names suggested each time.

Suggested pronunciations will often be incorrect.

You can't teach everyone to say letters and letter combinations that they are unfamiliar with. Welsh has many difficult letter combinations, and people won't necessarily hear the sounds as you say it.

Someone getting your name wrong is not a pleasant experience. Multiply that by every day for a whole lifetime ...

I forgot to mention both Sali and Mali

Also, Ffion for a girl. I can't use it as there's already one in the family.

Esyllt is my favourite Welsh girls name. I can't use it as the Ll will be butchered in England, and there's no way the English side of my family, or any of DH's English family will be able to pronounce it.

The top names on my list are Alys, Eira, Tesni and Morwenna for girls and Tomos, Osian and Macsen for boys.

Do not use the name Aflan - it means corrupt/evil/defiled!!

These are some of my favourites
Girls:
Elenid
Glain
Mererid
Elain
Marged
Gwenfair
Esyllt
Alaw
Luned
Annes

Boys:
Meilyr
Deio
Llifon
Dafydd
Elidir
Hedd
Guto
Gutun
Dyfed
Dyfan
Ifan
Ilan
Gruffudd
Gwern
Teifi

For girls I love Seren, Celyn, Cerys, Elin, Anwen.
Boys suggestions Alun, Gareth, Brynmor, Ifan.

Aflan. It is Welsh for Avalon and is unisex.

I have a Welsh name in England OP and love it.

Alys
Eira
Alys
Tesni
Morwenna (St Morwenna was born in Wales, did her saintly stuff in Cornwall)
Mari
Olwen
Alwenna
Eleri
Eirys
Megan
Enfys
Sian
Eirlys
Nia
Nerys
Carys
Nansi

Tomos
Osian
Macsen
Aneirin
Taliesin
Gwion
Gwilym
Geraint
Hefin
Eifion
Aled
Alun
Owen

Go with a Welsh name and sod anyone who says you can't because they may struggle to pronounce a non English name.
I can't get over this mindset from june2007
So everyone needs to have a typical English or anglicised name if they want to live in England we're not in the 1950s. People can take the very short time to learn a name that isn't familiar. I don't mind when I see a name that I don't automatically recognise. In fact you get to learn a new name, learn a bit if someone's cutlture.
I really dislike the idea that we all need to be anglicised so as to make a bit more lazy for people.

Sioned

Gaerwn

I've got a Gethin
Like Iwan
Rhys
Lloyd
Rhodri

Llinos
Catrin
Mabli
Cadi
Betsan

Alys not Alyssa, I give up!