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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Dylan - welsh but want to use the english pronounciation

19 replies

shouldnotbehere · 13/05/2011 16:20

I'm english (but have lived in Wales most of my life) and DH is welsh.

We do not have any preference for awelsh or english name. My welsh DH has the english name Robert.

However, DH says that he would have to pronounce the name Dullan, which is the welsh pronouciation. I only like the English pronounciation Dillan.

DH does not like the idea of using an English pronounciation for a Welsh name.

If you are welsh and have any friends called Dylan, which pronounciation do you use?

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WowOoo · 13/05/2011 16:22

Our friend, Dylan is Welsh (as am I). We pronounce it Dillan. He says it that way too!
From South Wales if that makes a difference. Perhaps up in North Wales or very Welshy areas it would be Dullan.

Original poster

shouldnotbehere · 13/05/2011 16:30

Yes, we're North Wales. I only know one Dylan, and he uses the pronounciation Dullan.

I think DH is being pedantic.

OP posts:

lou33 · 13/05/2011 16:31

i was born in wales but live in england, and my son is called dylan, pronounced the english way

4madboys · 13/05/2011 16:40

i have a Dylan pronounced the english way aka bob dylan, who as you probably know took his name from the poet.

but our Dylan is called Dylan because he was going to be Arlo and then a friend used that name, just before he was born! and ds2 had always said throughout my pregnancy that i wasnt growing a baby, i was growing a rabbit!! (NO idea why, strange child) so anyway we didnt have a name andthen when he was born, i just looked at him and he looked like a Dylan and it fitted because of the rabbit connection...magic roundabout.. and we like bob dylan.

sorry waffling its a lovely name, ours is Dylan Lucas, but he gets called deeby!

migola · 13/05/2011 20:24

am Welsh (north) and would always pronounce it Dullan. If your DH doesn't mind whether you choose an English or Welsh name, why not call him Dillan (spelt that way)? Or use Dylan and let your DH pronounce it his way, you yours?

GeneralDreedlesNurse · 13/05/2011 20:49

But it's dullan so why would you chose to mispronounce? You wouldn't call a baby matthew and pronounce it Matt - hew or Daniel & pronounce it dan-i-el so why is Dylan different? Pick a name you both like and can pronounce correctly.

MelinaM · 13/05/2011 22:17

I live in South East Wales (mores the pity), I'm also English (Yay) and do not consider the area 'Welsh' as it was classed as England until 1972, I've never heard Dylan pronounced Dullan, it's always Dillon. I prefer the English pro-nonciation Dillon and the welsh spelling Dylan!
As Dylan Thomas said "Wales is the land of my fathers, and my fathers can have it"!!! ...says it all really

mejon · 14/05/2011 09:22

Completely agree with GeneralDreedlesNurse. As a Welsh speaker I could never pronounce the name as 'Dillan' - so I fully understand your husband's pov.

edam · 14/05/2011 09:33

If your husband was French, and you wanted to call your baby Louis, would you insist it was pronounced Lewis rather than Lou-ee?

One of my nephews is Dylan, pronounced Dullan, even though he's got a Welsh name because his Grandad is Welsh. That's fine, doesn't bother my Dad (his Grandad). But it does bother your dh so either you go with Dullan (and spend your life correcting English people) or choose something else!

edam · 14/05/2011 09:34

My nephew is Dylan pron. Dillon.

migola · 14/05/2011 10:13

I may be wrong but I think a lot of south walians pronounce it more like Dillan don't they?
MelinaM maybe you should move to england if you hate it so much

MintyMoo · 14/05/2011 12:20

My Welsh relatives are from North Wales and they would never pronounce a Welsh name the 'English' way. I have a Welsh name and am sick to death of people insisting on pronouncing it the 'english way' - the so called 'english way' uses a sound which does NOT exist in the Welsh language. It's a Welsh name only and therefore there's the Welsh pronunciation and a wrong pronunciation.

Surely in this case use a different name? One where you both agree on the pronunciation!

MrsSawyer · 17/05/2011 11:07

My DS is Dillan and pronounced that way. My daling nanna was irish and i dreaded telling her we had picked a very welsh name, and she amazed me by saying "oh I went to school with a dillan (in the west of ireland in 1920's-ish) but it wasnt spelt the welsh way of d-y-l-a-n, it was spelt d-i-l-l-a-n, the irish way", im thinking now she was wrong no?

ClipArt · 17/05/2011 13:01

If you're not going to agree on this, wouldn't it be best to think of another name you both like and would pronounce the same way?

BelleEnd · 17/05/2011 13:08

Welsh, mid-Wales. Dylan is Dullan. If you want Dillon, spell it Dillon. I think if you're having confusion about this now, before he's born, he's likely to get a lot of it when he arrives. Sorry! What about Huw? Or Sion?

Melina... Just and :( at your post.

squeak2392 · 21/05/2011 18:35

I didn't know there was a Welsh pn of Dylan until recently, and I think it's absolutely awful!! Why would anyone in the English-speaking world want to name their son Dullen? Especially if he turns out to have learning difficulties!!

I live in S Wales, but I don't know anyone with that name and have only ever heard it Dillon. I don't like the spelling Dillon, but if you life in N Wales and you really want to call him Dylan (English pn) then spell it Dillon.

Oh dear, now you've made me angry imagining someone telling their son, Dullen, off. I wouldn't notice it was actually Dylan and would have a very low opinion of the mother for insulting her son. It's as bad as calling them a b, b, or son of a b.

[No offence to any Welsh people here, but this is my opinion as someone who grew up in an area where 'dullen' was a word, and not a name.]

Ariesgirl · 21/05/2011 22:09

Pronounce it how you want I know plenty of English and Welsh Dylans pronounced Dillon and Dullen.

Melina, if you despise living in Wales that much, perhaps you ought to move back to England. After all anywhere in SE Wales isn't that far from the border.

emmanumber3 · 22/05/2011 01:18

I think you might be safer picking a different name TBH. That is, if your DH pronouncing the name Dullan is going to bother you. If your DH is Welsh & the name is pronounced that way in Wales then I don't think you can really expect him to say it "the english way". I agree with the poster who said that it would be like expecting a French man to pronounce his son's name Lewis if the name was spelt as Louis .

Sorry - are there any other names you both agree on?

MintyMoo · 23/05/2011 08:49

Squeak - when you hear a native Welsh speaker pronounce Dylan the correct way, as Dullen it doesn't sound like - Dull anne, it kind of rolls together nicely and doesn't sound like an insult at all.

Incidentally I've never heard of Dullan as an insult before, maybe it's local to your area? In Wales it would just sound normal to everyone else.

I used to live in Leicestershire as a small girl, we called farts Pollys - as in 'Miss, so and so's done a Polly and it smells' - everyone there did, it's just what they're called. It doesn't mean I'd have a low opinion of a mother who called their DD Polly though.

OP - if you and DH can't agree on a the pronunciation of Dylan you'll save yourselves a lot of hassle by calling him something else. There's loads of nice Welsh boys names out there you can use instead.

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