If I was Welsh I would name my daughter Carys...

[twowasthemagicnumber]

To be honest if I'd even been there on holiday I'd consider it. But we have no Welsh connections at all, so I just can't do it (I know the arguments about just picking a name you like, but my other DC have culturally relevant names, and I'd like one for this baby as well).

I'm sure I'll have another boy anyway (in which case he will be Fergus), but if anyone feels like humouring me and suggesting English or Scottish (either would be fine in our family) girls' names which we might like, given that we can't bring ourselves to use Carys, I'd be very grateful.

Use Charis? Ancient Greek for Grace.

Ooh Ruthless, I like! Thank you, we hadn't considered that.

I know several Scottish girls called Charis.

I have a Carys. We are not welsh! Dh chose the name for dd2 (I had chosen dd1name)

Thanks Weegie and Hedgehog. Your DH chose a lovely name . But DH is Scottish, and our other two DC have Scottish names: I just can't get past the fact that if we chose a very obviously Welsh name a daughter might grow up wondering why we hadn't given her a Scottish name too, or even an English one (I am English). We don't live in the UK and so The DCs are constantly asked to explain their names - she would always be saying "It's Welsh, but I'm not Welsh....". Somehow Ancient Greek feels like a less random choice (although I can't fully explain why).

Why do you need to be welsh? Its a beautiful name, if you like it you should use it. I don't see it as being "obviously" welsh like Blodwen or Angharad.

I'm in Australia, I'm Scottish, and my mother who lives in Hong Kong is desperate for me to have a Carys!
Names know no boundaries :) I find it surprising that anyone is asking a child for their name origins in this climate/era.
If you love it, go for it!

Chances are, way down the family tree you may have roots to Wales perhaps.

It's a very lovely name. And the Greek or Latin versions equally so.

I really don't understand why you wouldn't call her Carys.

So what if it it's Welsh and not Scottish. They're both British, both Celtic, surely that's connection enough. Ancient Greece has far less of a connection to your family's heritage!

I am scottish and live in scotland and have a Welsh name. DS has à scottish name and DD is called Cerys. Didnt ever cross my mind to not call her the girls name i lovw the most. She has à very scottish girls middle name

what is wr0ng with Carys anyway? seems pretty mainstream British name to me.
if I were, if I were

Agree that Carys isn't as obviously Welsh as, say, Blodwen - pretty mainstream I'd have thought.

But OP may have a Welsh-ish surname (as I do) which makes slightly-Welsh first name sound really Welsh. So, although Carys Smith wouldn't be assumed to be Welsh, Carys Evans might be.

Er, not that there's anything wrong with being thought to be Welsh, or indeed with being Welsh, just that if you aren't it might be tedious to have to correct a misunderstanding often.

::has given this LOTS of thought over three DC::

I think you are overthinking...you like the name- use it.
I think it's a beautiful name.

My kids have a Welsh surname, it would work really well. I am going to force my ds to use it, in the far future!

Carys and Elin are my favorite girls names, not Welsh and dd is not called either.

I had Carys on my list and we are Scottish and our boys have Scottish/Celtic/Gaelic names.

Other girls names we had decided on were Mairi or Kirsty.

My current favourite is Lorna

Other suggestions:

Shona
Fallon
Blythe
Elspeth
Morvern
Tierney

I used Charis for the exact reason you state OP - no Welsh connections. I think it is much prettier with this spelling too.

I only found out I had Welsh roots last year. Most people do! ;) If you love the name, I say use it. I prefer Carys as a spelling personally but Charis is obviously also nice.

Otherwise, how about Agnes?

London! I love this name!

Aoife is on my list and Im not Irish!

Thanks, I do feel fairly tied to using a Scottish / English name, although appreciate that not everyone feels it necessary for a name to be culturally relevant to them.

Charis is a definitely possibility, and I love Mairi, soontobe, that's definitely one which we will consider further - it has a similar sort of feel to Carys for me.

But not that tied to the Scottish/English theme if Charis is on the list.

:) You don't come across many little Mairis, even in Scotland.

Had we had two girls instead of boys, I am fairly sure we would have a Mairi and a Carys :)

I think Carys is a lovely name! My cousin named her child Cerys, which is similar, but I prefer Carys.

I am Scottish, and love Scottish baby names. I would suggest;

Eilidh
Isla
Ailsa
Blaire
Cora
Maisie
Maeve

Good luck with the name!

Cameron

I am Scottish and know two women named Charis, it was on our short list but I worried everyone would assume on hearing it that it was Carys.