Baby names - can't decide!

[bloss]

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There's a Bronwyn at DD's playgroup too and a Reynard (male, is that french for fox?). The whole name thing is such a responsibility for parents because once you decide it takes an awful lot of trouble to change a name.

Irish names cause a bit of a bother with pronunciation also - my dd is called Aoife which is pronounced Efa but it is always a laugh to see how people try to pronounce it when they see it written down. I'm going to have to take her back to Ireland before she starts school I think!

As far as Welsh names go, I've always had a soft spot for Idris. I liked the dragon in Ivor the Engine I'm not sure I'd saddle any of my children with it though! We went for Callum (Scottish) and Aidan (Irish) so if I were to go for a 3rd, it would have to be Welsh!

Having gone through my childhood with a rhyming name, I'm a bit sensitive about this sort of thing. A top tip is not to name your child anything you couldn't stand in the middle of a public place and shout really loud

I went to school with a Karen pronounced Kairen (from Isle of Man I think) and it never seemed a problem to me. I'd imagine she had to tell everyone though. That's the problem with "odd" pronunciations of "normal" names. Pronunciation of more unusual names is not a problem as people expect to get them wrong!

RE Tobee-as Could spell it Tobyas I guess but you said you're not into odd spellings. Go for Tobias and be prepared to correct everyone!

Soupdragon, you are probably too young to remember this but there used to be an orange squash called Idris

"I drink Idris when I's dry
Idris is the squash to buy"

etc (can't remember the rest!

Not pronounced like the Welsh one though (isn't it a mountain or something?)

Idris
In Welsh mythology, a giant whose seat was Cader Idris, a mountain ridge in Snowdonia. He was supposed to have the power of conferring poetic inspiration, and of inducing madness or death.

I didn't know that until Google told me.

Never heard of the squash I'm afraid - it's nice to be too young to remember some things! New Andy Pandy is on Cbeebies now and I remember watching that as a child...

And the Clangers, obviously!

DH liked Idris but to me it's such an old man's name! Possibly because when I was very little great-gran had a brother called Idris who used to just sit in an armchair and had no fingers on one hand as they'd got chopped off in a farming accident.

Enough to put anyone off the name!!

Janh, I remember the Idris slogan too. Ours was on a very battered advertising panel in our corner shop and embellished with a picture of a lemon in absolute agony - we always used to assume severe constipation. So it's a no-no for the drink and the name I'm afraid.

Yes there is and lovely stuff it is too.

My Grandma always used to talk about the Idris ginger beer. She went to school with the daughter of the man who...invented?...it.

She always used to get upset because everyone pronounced it wrong!

sorry, digressing again, aren't i?

I used to work with a lovely lady named Raewyn...which sounds vaguely like a male name too (as in Bron-wyn)! She was actually from New Zealand and i think the name is fairly popular there. Any kiwi's here who can help me out?

I am a kiwi and yes Raewyn is (or at least was about 40 years ago) quite a popular name in NZ. Unfortunately there was a sitcom in the 70s called Gliding On that had a character called Raewyn who played the Tea-lady in a Government department and had a very "koy-wee" accent. I think this might have dampened popularity subsequently.

We also had Raewyn Blade, who told us all in ads how to cook New Zealand lamb and how tasty it was.

Jenny2998

I always thought pronouncing Idris was easy. You just had to listen to how they pronounced the name of the dragon that lived in Ivor the Engine's furnace to know how.

That was really my first experience of Welsh names and it has stuck with me.

How very slack of me not to thank everyone who answered my question about boys' Welsh names! Definitely lots to think about there - but I would be very disappointed not to be able to use Sian as it has always been our favourite girls name (whereas I like a particular boys name one day, then hate it the next) and I definitely don't want more than 2 kids!

Jodee- Do you like Sion? (shon) that's a similar sound to Sian but for a boy.

Soupdragon,
I totally agree - there are some lovely old names out there, but I woulddn't saddle a kid with them.....middle names are a different matter though. Our three (middle additions)are Afric, Wolfram and Madrigal....if they ever own up to having these names in later life !

Angharad, I like the spelling of Sion, but the way it sounds rhymes with the first part of our surname, so it would be okay as a middle name.

Hi, I have 2 ds' and am expecting my 3rd little boy in October, we are having great difficulty with another boys name, any ideas please?

i'm a childminder and look after a Tobias but everybody calls him Toby
my boys are called Christopher and Ryan but everybody calls them Chris and Rye

i have a Jonathan and a Michael. I really dont like people shortening names and so no one does (although that will probably change when they get to school) I sometimes Call them Jonath and Cully as pet names - but im allowed to cause im their mom

If I ever have another child (and I am certinally not planning on it!) my short list would be...

Andrew Elizabeth
David Catherine
Timothy Victoria
Nicholas Samantha
Ross Charlotte
Peter Rose