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Original poster

English pronounciation of a welsh name

34 replies

Littlemiss41andfabulous · 10/09/2021 23:32

Hi,

My husband is Welsh and I'm English, and we currently live in Wales. We're choosing Welsh names but I am aware we may move to England one day so want our daughter's name to not have any problems in either country.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the Welsh name 'Efa' (pronounced Ava). Do you think that could be problematic in England, as most people/children won't know how to pronounce it in Welsh when they see how it is written down?

Thanks x

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CheekyAFAIK · 11/09/2021 07:36

I'm English, I'd say Efa ey-fuh

CheekyAFAIK · 11/09/2021 07:35

If you want to to be pronounced Ava and Welsh people aren't even sure how to pronounce it when spelled Efa, why not spell it Ava?

tiredanddangerous · 11/09/2021 07:04

I think you would have to correct a lot of people op so it depends whether that would bother you or not.

I'm Welsh and wouldn't pronounce it as Ava.

LawnFever · 11/09/2021 06:50

I wouldn’t know how to pronounce that name, I’d probably guess as Eff-A, or maybe think it was like Aoife, once I was told Ava I’d remember but you and your daughter will have a lifetime of correcting everyone!

Phphion · 11/09/2021 01:24

There was a whole thread on the pronunciation of Efa. It basically broke down into:

  • English people saying they would pronounce it like hiefer cow or f-er like 'what a stupid f-er'.
  • Welsh people arguing over whether it is correctly pronounced Ava (Ay-va), Evva (Eh-va, forever) or something in between.
  • Irish people introducing the possibility of using Aoifa to get the Ee-va pronunciation used more commonly in English.
WhenZoomWasJustAnIceLolly · 11/09/2021 00:05

Efa in Welsh isn’t pronounced Ava. It’s a hard e like elephant. Eh-va.

Kite22 · 10/09/2021 23:54

I do think most English folk would read it as "e-fa" to rhyme with heifer if I'm honest.
Don't get me wrong, once you tell people, people will cope, especially as, once you say "Ava" that is what they will hear. I mean, they will then spell it like that......

Palavah · 10/09/2021 23:41

Most english people won't know how to pronounce that without being told. Even after they're told they'll either forget whether its 'ay' or 'ee' for the first syllable or forget to sound the 'f' as an English 'v', or both.

MissBattleaxe · 10/09/2021 23:36

I'm Welsh and I've never seen that name anywhere. How about Manon or Menna? Lovely Welsh names which are pronounced as they are spelled.