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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Three week old- no name - help!

110 replies

mamaof3kiddos · 02/07/2022 15:49

Help choosing baby name please!

Baby girl. Now three weeks old... no name!

Dad is Welsh. Mum is Irish. We'd like something reflective of our heritage (so an Irish, Welsh or Celtic name) but not so much that the spelling is wild or that there is huge difficult to pronounce.

Any ideas?!

OP posts:
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mistygem · 09/07/2022 14:10

What about Nerys, then? I heard it means lady, and it's similar to Nancy and Nensi, with more obvious spelling and pronunciation
I would also suggest Gwen

user1469770863 · 09/07/2022 13:57

Gwen

uncomfortablydumb53 · 09/07/2022 12:38

Nia
Rhian

blueskyeve · 09/07/2022 12:29

Erin is beautiful!

DacwMamYnDwad · 08/07/2022 19:52

You could have Annest nn Annie

DacwMamYnDwad · 08/07/2022 19:51

There's no circumflex on the a in Haf, @mamaof3kiddos . It's a bit of a filler middle name in Wales.

K8Shrop · 08/07/2022 19:50

Maeve and Erin go well together. I think that would be my choice

CaffiSaliMali · 08/07/2022 19:47

Nansi is lovely, I really like it. People will get used to the spelling e.g. Harri, Tomos, Alys, Mari etc.

I think it would be nice to have a Welsh name this time.

Erin is lovely and goes well with Maeve. Same with Orla. Erin Haf is a nice combo.

Grace and Annie are nice but don't have the same heritage connection as Maeve.

You could have Annie as a nickname for Anwen or Aneira if you wanted to get some extra Welsh in there.

Original poster
mamaof3kiddos · 08/07/2022 19:01

Ok so we are between

Nansi (Welsh spelling of Nancy- husband thinks we are setting up for a lifetime of having to explain her spelling)

Orla. Although husband not keen.

Annie

Grace

Erin

I'd love Hâf as a middle name but trying to work on husband.

We liked Saoirse but we went to a party at the weekend and every single person answered with a "what was that?" when we said the name so that's out!

Our DD1 is already a Maeve so I love that it got a lot of love on this thread!

Ideally I'd prefer to go Welsh, even if she has to spell Nansi out her entire life, at least she'd explain it by reference to her Welsh heritage

Any thoughts on these?!

OP posts:
KirstenBlest · 08/07/2022 16:55

Hmm. History and all that.

Going off-topic.

How about Eilidh or Ailsa?

LizzieAnt · 08/07/2022 16:00

To be fair, I do know people who speak Irish well who say Nigh-ul too...they just prefer the 'anglicised' pronunciation (as do I in this case as it happens). So they called their dc that rather than Nee-ul. There's a mix of approaches to Irish names.

LizzieAnt · 08/07/2022 15:54

@KirstenBlest Yes, Nigh-ul for Niall is the default pronunciation where I am too. As far as I know it's the more usual pronunciation in Ireland now, except in the Gaeltacht areas. However, it's not the correct Irish language pronunciation of the name, which is Nee-ul as you say. And most Irish people probably don't know that unless they speak Irish well. I didn't realise it for ages at least.

KirstenBlest · 08/07/2022 15:26

Oh, ok. I think it is sad when names lose their original pronunciation - they sound so much nicer. I get confused with Niall - it looks like it should be Nee-ul but some irish neighbours call their son Nigh-ul

LizzieAnt · 08/07/2022 14:54

Yes, I agree, @KirstenBlest, Niamh isn't properly pronounced Neeve in Irish. (Lots of Irish people do say Neeve though - this has probably developed because English is the first language for most people here and not everyone speaks Irish well.)

But Naomh isn't pronounced 'Neeve' in Irish either, that's the point I was making.

KirstenBlest · 08/07/2022 14:41

@LizzieAnt , it can be spelt in other ways, but Niamh is Nee-uv, not Neeve.

cf Liam is Lee-um not Leem, Cian is Kee-un not Keen etc

LizzieAnt · 08/07/2022 14:40

www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/naomh

LizzieAnt · 08/07/2022 14:37

Neeve is spelt Naomh.

No, it's not.

Happy40something · 08/07/2022 08:33

Ciara or Claire .

KirstenBlest · 08/07/2022 08:29

@Sqeebling , it's Nee-uv not Neeve. Neeve is spelt Naomh

Sqeebling · 08/07/2022 00:09

I like Niamh because it's pronounced Neeve so confuses people

Youcansaythatagainandagain · 08/07/2022 00:02

There aren't many nice Irish girls names which is a pity as there are some very lovely and very strong boys names.

What about using a Welsh girl's name and if you ever have a boy, use an Irish name then?
Carys?
Seren?

Or Erin would fit both your criteria?

TabithaTittlemouse · 07/07/2022 23:55

Siobhan

Dinoteeth · 07/07/2022 23:54

What about Bernice, or Fionnula?

Op I'd buy Welsh and Irish name books and go through them see what you come up with

Happenchance · 07/07/2022 23:50

Angharad
Morgan
Gwendoline
Nia

Amdone123 · 07/07/2022 23:46

Yeah, Seren, Maeve or Erin.
I've never heard of Mabli - that's lovely, too.

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