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@Wondermule

Betsi thread

[quote Drunkenmonkey]@Wondermule it's not about expecting the whole country to get acquainted with 'little known Welsh names' it's about realising when you see a name that there are other cultures and other alphabets and other traditions and not an automatic English assumption that if it doesn't adhere to our phonetic rules or isn't spelt the way we expect that it must be 'wrong'.
Google is one click away if you don't recognise a name.
I've even heard people say about Irish names that they are just a random collection of letters![/quote]
🙄🙄 I very much doubt anyone has said that a non-English name is spelt wrong. They may try to correct if they assume it is English and spelt incorrectly, but that’s a mistake rather than malice.

If I’m wrong do link to a relevant thread, but it sounds like you’re desperate to take offence where none is meant.

Rules of baby names on Mumsnet.

1. Must be anglised and in no way a non English spelling or name
2. Never suggest a Welsh, Scottish, Irish name spelt traditionally you're not allowed as English people it must be easy to pronounce and spell for the English
3. Name must be fuddy duddy and stuffy as possible ...the more old fashioned and enid blighton the better think Ethel, Percy, Edmund, Joyce
4. Woe betide anyone who likes or suggests a modern name. If you do you get shot down as 'common', 'down market' and 'chavvy' or it's a 'fad'
5. Never suggest or admit you like something in the top 100 as you'll be deemed as boring and too popular and common
6. You are not allowed to give a name that may have connections to a heritage you are not fully aligned with
7. You will carry favour if you pick the most pretentious greek mythology name (which contradicts point 6) because this proves you are educated and a better class.

The Welsh names that are mentioned on here tend to be ones that are popular or not in the slightest bit unusual in Wales.

They tend to not be well-received on here or there will be confusion.
The most recent one I've seen was the Fionn/Ffion thread.

There is usually rudeness on the welsh or irish names threads.

@Wondermule it's not about expecting the whole country to get acquainted with 'little known Welsh names' it's about realising when you see a name that there are other cultures and other alphabets and other traditions and not an automatic English assumption that if it doesn't adhere to our phonetic rules or isn't spelt the way we expect that it must be 'wrong'.
Google is one click away if you don't recognise a name.
I've even heard people say about Irish names that they are just a random collection of letters!

Alexandra.

It gets shortened to Alex. I knew 4 in school and used to really dislike the name, found it quite masculine.

Ottilia would get that pronunciation and doesn't sound so otterly.

It's a shame when some names get mispronounced and the 'wrong' version becomes mainstream

[quote CaffiSaliMali]@Wondermule - my Mam is a native Welsh speaker and my Dad is English so I'm half English, half Welsh. I would consider me using a Welsh name no different to me using an English one as I'm half and half. No-one ever says to me 'oh, don't use an English name though'.

I consider it rude when someone says 'oh I can't be bothered learning how to say 'Eleri', I'll call you Emily/Ellie/Elle instead'. Or just insists on saying it wrong with no effort made to learn it.

I also consider it rude when someone says 'eurgh, why are you called that?' Or 'your name is ghastly' Or 'your parents obviously don't love you or they wouldn't have called you that' (yes I have had all three of those comments).

A poster recently asked for opinions on four names, two of which were Welsh - Mari and Betsi and she received 'they're spelled Mary and Betsy' comments.

A few years ago a poster asked for opinions on Tomos, Harri and Rhodri and received similar comments. One of the first comments was along the lines of 'please spell them properly'. It's the assumption that the spellings are wrong which is rude, especially with the history of the suppression of the Welsh language and Welsh names. If someone said 'I assume those are cultural spellings but it may be easier to use Thomas and Harry ' that would be different.

There have been other threads of course but those two are ones I remember off the top of my head. You get similar comments on many threads on Irish names too - I recall a particularly unpleasant one where the OP's baby was named Cillian and OP's English family were refusing to pronounce it properly (baby's Dad was Irish) and she got pages and pages of 'it looks like Silly Ann, you should change it' comments.[/quote]
Basically all of those comments could be applied to English/mainstream names though. Look at the names picked apart on this thread for exactly the same reasons, they’re not Welsh.

As for Betsi etc, I’ve never heard of it and neither will 99% of people in England. You can’t expect the entire country to acquaint themselves with little known Welsh names in case they happen to encounter them. Of course they will assume it’s ‘Betsy’ spelled differently.

I would be able to understand your point if a poster said ‘Ew, don’t use that name, it’s Welsh’ but they’re not - they’re applying the same criticisms they have of English names to Welsh names, and you’re reading too much into it.

Plus I think all of our kids names have been called ghastly at some point 😂😂

Oh, I see.

How about Ottilia? That would be pronounced Oh-TEE-Lee-ah in English, as in German?

Personally I'm not keen on Ottilie rhyming with Utterly.

@Violetlavenders, that's the german pronunciation. It's more like the rhyming with Emily in the UK.

Ottilie is pronounced Oh- TEE- Lee- eh.
4 syllables with the emphasis on the second syllable.

OTT-illy, rhymes with Emily. original not orginal.

@LastTrainToTrancentral, more like Ott-illy. The orginal pronunciation is Ott-EEL-ee-uh

Margot!
Reminds me of maggot

So....do you pronounce Ottilie as Oh-tilly? I've never met one.

OP, you beat me to it, as I was about to have a moan about people mispronouncing Ottilie as Otterly.

I have a Harri, caffisalimali and it’s pretty popular here in this part of Wales, but some of our English friends and family seem to have a problem spelling it...I mean, it’s only an I, not y 🤦🏼‍♀️
I see Elodie a lot on here. I’ve never met an actual real life Margot yet.

Its spelt percy-phone.

No it is spelled Persephone.

April, May and June.

where May includes Mae and Maeve
and June includes Juno and Juniper.

Evelyn and Evangelina as well as the Eve names Eva, Ava, Aoife, Evie etc

@Wondermule - my Mam is a native Welsh speaker and my Dad is English so I'm half English, half Welsh. I would consider me using a Welsh name no different to me using an English one as I'm half and half. No-one ever says to me 'oh, don't use an English name though'.

I consider it rude when someone says 'oh I can't be bothered learning how to say 'Eleri', I'll call you Emily/Ellie/Elle instead'. Or just insists on saying it wrong with no effort made to learn it.

I also consider it rude when someone says 'eurgh, why are you called that?' Or 'your name is ghastly' Or 'your parents obviously don't love you or they wouldn't have called you that' (yes I have had all three of those comments).

A poster recently asked for opinions on four names, two of which were Welsh - Mari and Betsi and she received 'they're spelled Mary and Betsy' comments.

A few years ago a poster asked for opinions on Tomos, Harri and Rhodri and received similar comments. One of the first comments was along the lines of 'please spell them properly'. It's the assumption that the spellings are wrong which is rude, especially with the history of the suppression of the Welsh language and Welsh names. If someone said 'I assume those are cultural spellings but it may be easier to use Thomas and Harry ' that would be different.

There have been other threads of course but those two are ones I remember off the top of my head. You get similar comments on many threads on Irish names too - I recall a particularly unpleasant one where the OP's baby was named Cillian and OP's English family were refusing to pronounce it properly (baby's Dad was Irish) and she got pages and pages of 'it looks like Silly Ann, you should change it' comments.

Hugo, Arlo and Otto get lots of love and I really don't get it. Sebastian is thought of as unusual but i have no idea why. Theodore is massively popular too but now overused.

Of those I only like Hugo, but suspect that it has become too popular.
Arlo, Otto and Theodore are all horrible, and Sebastian makes me think of Little Britain and Seborrhea.

Per (rhyming with sir)
Seff (rhyming with deaf)
Oh (rhyming with no)
Knee (rhyming with bee)

I do also read it in my head as Percy-phone though

How is Persephone actually pronounced? I’ve never met one and therefore have never heard it said aloud.