Celtic girls names

[threeleftfeet]

bump is tiny, but thinking about names already!

She / he will be part Welsh, Scottish, Irish and English.

We like the more unusual names - to give you an idea, boys names we like include Inigo, Oisín and Taliesin.

I'm a bit stuck on girls names, I'd be grateful to hear any ideas!

TIA :)

Aarg! Bloody iPhone!

Unusual names not makes!!

Morag

Cerys

It's pronounced as it looks - Ang-ha-rad. - maybe that looks simple to a Welsh person, but the stressed middle syllable and soft gh could make it annoyingly mispronounced in England.
how about Aoife?

Well if you can say "the prang had a disasterous effect on my car", which I would imagine any English person without speech problems can, then Angharad is not a problem.

oh please do not be huffy, I just know how some English people can be with any name that is remotely 'tricky' to say. @ 'the prang had'

I am certainly not going to rule out names solely because some English people might have trouble with them!

It saddens me greatly that it's a consideration for so many when choosing names. Because if we only choose names which the English have no trouble with, then that's the death of Welsh / Scottish / Irish culture in action.

There were whole generations of Welsh children who had their mother tongue beaten out of them (literally) by the English, not so very long ago. See Welsh Not.

Why should I pander to the English now when choosing names?! I'd love to honour our Celtic heritage and that might mean choosing a name which the English have difficulties with.

The English have learnt to cope with Niamh, Sian and Siobhan. Why not Angharad, Aranwen and Gwenllian next?

DS1 has a beautiful pre-Christian Celtic name with a rich story attached to it. It's slightly difficult for English people to spell, but I'd much rather him have a name which reflects our heritage than go for Mark or Peter - nothing wrong with those names in themselves, just wholly inappropriate for my family.

Sorry for the rant, but it's something I feel strongly about!

I agree aufaniae, as an English person who grew up in Wales. Were the English names of Janet, Susan etc. really 'better' than Carys or Bronwen?

The English do manage to get their tongues round Greek(?) names e.g. Phoebe, Penelope, so why can't they make the effort with Welsh?

I agree the ll can be tricky for many, like any sound which doesn't appear in English, unless you learn it as a child. But Aranwen - how on earth can that be seen as difficult?

I am certainly not going to rule out names solely because some English people might have trouble with them!
I wasn't taking a political stance, I just meant that years of mispronounciation of this lovely name Angharad might be a total wind up for whoever was called it, if one were living in England.
Two of my sisters have lovely Celtic names but did suffer in school, not least from the teachers......

Phoebe and Penelope are easy to say.

could be annoying for the mum too having to hear people say...what? what?
Anger -ad?
I am purely speaking on a practical level.

I hear ya MaryHansack. I have a surname that has to be spelt out 10 times a day. On grumpy days it can get a bit wearing.

Fo-eeb and Penny lope? Only easy because we have bothered to learn how to say them.

My fave Welsh girls names, currently under consideration if Nipper is a girl:-

Rhonwen
Nesta
Glesni
Ceinwen
Marged
Awen
Aelwen
Esyllt
Olwen
Owena

Eithne
Tierny
Tamar
Logan
Rowan

MaryHansack I totally understand that your comments were well-intentioned, and not meant to be political.

Such a stance is political though, however unwitting.

excuse me, but Nerys isn't a 'bit naff'. It's my middle name and a very good Welsh name I'll have you know!

Ooh I like Glensi, Ceinwen and Eithne.

The list is growing :)

hmm I see what you mean...effit, make those complacent English twist their tongues!!

There was a girl at my London school called Ceinwen....that's a pretty name.
I love Oisin and Roisin.

my surname has to be spelt every time. Doesn't bother me in the slightest,why should it?

"effit, make those complacent English twist their tongues!!"

well unless your name is Smith or Jones...you will have to spell it out whatever your name is.
surnames are different somehow....mind you I did suffer slightly with mine, and it is really not that strange...

Oisin is lovely isn't. Just finding girls names harder for some reason!

Maybe should wait till we know what it is this time, but we hadn't agreed a name for DS1 until after he was born. Would quite like to do it a bit earlier this time!

oops, I meant Oisin is lovely, isn't it!

my surname has to be spelt every time. Doesn't bother me in the slightest,why should it?

Who said spelling your surname should bother you??

But unsurprisingly having to constantly spell their name out does bother other people?

Using names you already like as inspiration what about
Tesni
Siwan

oops pressed post too soon (due to DD2 climbing all over me).

I know of a female Osia (Osha) which I assume is the female Osian/Oisin.

I found this book very useful when we were trying to find a name for DC2.