Boys names you could say in Welsh and English

These things are true but (except for the O pronunciation) they might be the best way to get the closest some adults are going to get to the correct pronunciation. Depends, I suppose, whether you'd rather they have a go or not.

I had a lecturer called Emyr. The English lecturers called him Emir, like a middle eastern prince.

My favourite uncles name was Emyr, and for some odd reason he was called uncle Pem

"Arthur sounds quite different in Welsh."

Yes, I know. I didn't say they sound the same.
I didn't realise it was fashionable again in English. The Ahthuh pronunciation makes me think of Arthur Fowler and the Christmas club debacle.

@Gwenhwyfar , apologies, i mistook the r̥ for an r.

Arthur sounds quite different in Welsh.

@Gwenhwyfar , that south walian pronunciation is wrong.

It’s the fourth most popular boys’ name in E&W! You can’t move in playgroups and primary schools for little Arthurs. No longer an old man’s name.

Wikipedia has it: It is pronounced [r̥ɨːs] in North Wales, [r̥iːs] in South Wales, and /riːs/ REESS in English.[1]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Welsh

Even with the phonetic symbols, it's not easy. I hear Seán, Shaun/Shawn and Siôn as 3 different sounds, but I don't know how to write them differently.

"The problem with pronunciation is it's a bit subjective, as you say, somebody might say Rhys but an English speaker might hear Reece."

I posted a link to a video above that I think shows the Welsh pronunciation clearly.

There's no connection with 'ch', forget about that.
Rh is pronounced as written i.e. not like just 'r' but the r and the h together making one sound.
The 'y' in north Wales will be pronounced differently from 'ee' in English.

www.google.com/search?q=youtube+pronounce+name+rhys&oq=youtube+pronounce+name+rhys&aqs=edge..69i57j0i546l5j69i64.5268j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:12b99154,vid:ROZ0HG7BF-M

In an ideal world people would be willing to look up phonetic symbols because you can't really explain how something is pronounced in one language using another language.

We Welsh speakers definitely see them as Welsh names (even if they're not really, which is news to me).

If he's called Arthur, Welsh people will think he has a Welsh name and English people will think he has an English name. Maybe it's a bit of an old man's name in English though.

@BertieBotts , but CH, RH, TH, PH, NG, DD, FF, and LL are letters in Welsh, not combinations of two letters.
I've seen some threads where a poster said that LL sounded like the scottish ch, and it really does not. it doesn't sound like CL or THL either.
Llio does not sound like Cleo, regardless of Corrie. Welsh names ending in O do not rhyme with go and know. The sound is like the O in got or knot.

Yes, that is a better way to describe it. It doesn't sound like ch but it modifies the r sound in sort of the same way the c sound is modified in ch. In my head anyway. The problem with pronunciation is it's a bit subjective, as you say, somebody might say Rhys but an English speaker might hear Reece.

@BertieBotts , RH sounds nothing like the CH in scottish loch.

A better comparison might be with how a scottish person called Whyte says his/her name, and how it doesn't sound just like Wight.

@Beachs , they have no direct equivalents for me to write.
RH is one letter, and is like saying R and H at the same time.
The Y sounds like Û, but if you don't speak Welsh, you won't know what I mean.
A bit like your tongue makes a horseshoe-shape and you say 'ee' through it.
If it was Reece it would be written Rîs.

I asked whether you spoke Welsh, because i don't know if they say Reece, or if they say Rhys but you hear Reece.

The Welsh Rh is more rolled than an English R sound and has a very slight kind of h sound in it that makes it a bit like the Scottish ch. I think if you don't speak Welsh (I don't BTW) you might assume that Rh is how Welsh people pronounce all R sounds but it's not. Think about a Welsh accented "Rhodri" vs "roundabout"

I can't hear the difference between y and ee so can't help there.

You havent really answered the question, How exactly are you pronouncing Rhys then? Regardless of whether I'm a Welsh speaker or not, every Rhys I know and have ever known pronounces it Ree-ce?

@Beachs , do you speak Welsh? I'd guess not from your post.
Rhys is a very popular name, and does not sound like Reece (although it does if you don't speak Welsh).

RH does not sound like R. Y doesn't sound like EE. The S sounds like S.
Rh and Y don't have equivalent english sounds.

@VitaminX , it doesn't work outside Wales because Ceri looks like Serry or Surrey if you read it without knowing that C sounds like K in Welsh.

Ceri would not work in England either.

I went to school in England but close to the border and there were several boys called Ceri. Everyone just said it like Kerry, including the boys themselves. Was everyone saying it wrong then?

Welsh person here asking as Im confused. you say Rhys by English people is pronounced Reece, how else do you pronounce it??? Every Rhys I know, and I know lots, pronounce it ree-ce

Owen
Idris
Owain
Emlyn

Tomos (although I suspect most people in England would just pronounce it as Thomas, rather than Tomos)

Owen is probably the simplest option and goes very well with William.

Harri also works (Welsh for Henry) but you might not want to use with William!

Gwyndion looks like a typo of Gwydion.
Gwion
Guto
Myrddin
Iolo