names (some welsh)

[ThePartyArtist]

Thoughts please on these names:

Eleri
Arianwen
Phoebe
Florence
Eirlys
Iris
April
Autumn
Enfys

Austin
Osian
Rowan
Douglas
Iwan
Reuben

All lovely.

Do you live in Wales and if not do you mind having to tell people how to pronounce them?

Florence is what I liked but I'm having a boy! Such a pretty name! Douglas is fab, would you call him dougie? X

Should add, we are not in Wales.
Would be interested to know which of the above people don't know how to pronounce / aren't sure the gender of!

I love them all, but as a Welsh person living in England with a very Welsh name, you will have to spend plenty of time correcting people's pronunciation (which does get irritating after the eleventy billionth time).

Eleri very pretty. Probably misheard as Hilary tho.
Arianwen nice, but a bit of a mouthful.
Phoebe ok. Bit bland?
Florence sweet, but popular.
Eirlys snowdrop. Lovely name. Not so good for non-welsh though.
Iris classic, making a comeback.
Autumn not really my taste. But easy to say!
Enfys. Not as pretty as some of the others. Possibly boyish?

Austin cars. Or American.
Osian unsure!
Rowan ok, but can be girl or boy. So proper boy middle name...
Douglas cute.
Iwan Ewan/Euan ok, but may be spelling it to people
Reuben sweet. Not many around now.

Have you considered ieuan ?

I have an Arianwen. We're not in Wales but in an area with lots of different names from all over the world. I'm surprised by just how difficult people find it to pronounce, even after we've told them a few times. She's sometimes called Ari (to rhyme with Harry) for short, and more than one of the staff at her nursery mispronounce that as well (Airy, like fairy)!

That said, if I ever have another daughter Eirlys is top of my list, and that's even harder to get right! When are you due? For a Jan/Feb baby that would be my top pick!

I love them all except Arianwen, how about
Ariana or Arwen?

I love Eleri, Arianwen and Douglas. How do you say Eirlys?

Eleri is just stunning. Like Osian best of your boys' names.

Your child will be forever correcting people. I say that as a Welsh speaker.

Osian is lovely, but it is a bit of a thing to saddle a child with a very Welsh name when they don't live in Wales.

Like them all except Arianwen
I went to a conference and met a lady named Aeres ( pronounced Iris )
I was a bit ? When I saw it written down

How do you say Eirlys?

Ay-er-liss but with the first two bits blending together more.

Osian - osh-ann

Eleri - ell-air-ee

Enfys - enn-viss

Eirlys is pronounced

Eyre-lis... Kinda... It's ay-rrr-lis all one flowing word with a rolling 'r' and 'Lis' like you are about to say 'list'

What about Anwen instead of Arianwen?

What about Anest?

Angharad?

Eleri - very nice, but I would worry about it being pronounced to rhyme with celery!
Arianwen - love it. Was on my list but DH vetoed. Also love Anwen (another veto!)
Phoebe - OK
Florence - OK
Eirlys - love it. Would have been on my list, but sounds too similar to Dniece's name.
Iris - very nice
April - OK, but maybe odd if not born in April
Autumn - OK, but maybe odd if not born in Autumn
Enfys - nice

Austin - makes me think of Austin Powers and all of its associated quotes (Oh Baby!)
Osian - LOVE. It is my second favourite boy's name after Taliesin. Would have insisted pleaded for one of these if DD had been DS.
Rowan - OK
Douglas - really like, esp nn Dougie
Iwan - OK
Reuben - OK

Eleri- love
Arianwen- love
Phoebe- like
Florence- loads of them around
Eirlys- love
Iris- love but getting very popular
April- meh
Autumn- not keen
Enfys-like, but prefer your other Welsh ones

Austin- really dislike
Osian- like
Rowan- love
Douglas- hate
Iwan- like
Reuben- like

Sorry to drip feed but should add it is with a double barrelled surname (part of which is a tricky spelling!) Eeek!

If she/he is going to end up spelling the surname anyway, then you may as well pick the name you like most and not worry about whether people can spell it!

Both DD and I have a double-barrelled surname that needs spelling out, with uncommon first names. It's fine. Well, it can get tiresome but I prefer it to being one of a number of people with the same name!

Eleri - does sound a bit like Hilary (or celery)? Might spend some time correcting mis-hearing
Arianwen - find it confusing to look at, but when I try to say it (ari-ann-win?) it sold really pretty
Phoebe - Love it
Florence - pretty, but over used these days
Eirlys - not sure how to say it
Iris - love it
April - a bit insipid
Autumn - rather American/chavvy
Enfys - sounds middle aged

Austin - Powers?
Osian - lovely
Rowan - gender neutral name (not my taste) I was at school with a female Rowan so I always think of it as female
Douglas - Great
Iwan - will be spelled Ewan by many
Reuben - too biblical for my taste

I'm not Welsh, here's how I would pronounce them if I saw them written down. Apologies in advance :)

Eleri - ill eerie
Arianwen - Ari ann wen
Phoebe - Feebee
Florence - Florence
Eirlys - err liss
Iris - Iris
April - April
Autumn - Autumn
Enfys - En fiss

Austin - ostin
Osian - ocean
Rowan - rowan
Douglas - douglas
Iwan - I won
Reuben - Roo bun

I am not Welsh and don't live in Wales and I named DD one of those Welsh names. Nobody knows how to spell it or how to pronounce it if they see it written down, but I do still think it is a beautiful name. I do wonder if she will hate us when she is older for giving her a name no one else recognises, but I also have an unusual name with an unusual spelling and don't hate my parents for it and we live in an area with a large mix of ethnicities so there are children in her class with all sorts of unusual-sounding-to-me names that I wouldn't necessarily know how to spell or pronounce, so don't let that put you off if you love the name.