Welsh speakers advice please

[wineapotamus]

Hi all,
How would you pronounce the name Efa? I'm 3rd generation Welsh and can say things like nos da, mochyn and cariad that my main called me when I was small. My son has a Welsh name that I love and I'd like my little one (due in March) to have a Welsh name too, but I'm getting lots of variation on how this would be pronounced. Like eefah or ever or effer?
Diolch and all that xxx

Nain. Not main. Stupid autocorrect...

I pronounce it eeffah, emphasis on the first syllable.

Do you live in Wales? if not I'd possibly consider a Welsh name that's more well known unless people pronouncing it wrong won't bother you.

eh-va...one f is a v sound.

Like brats
Not e-va but an eh sound to start

Thanks. No, we live in that London. My ds's name is pretty unfamiliar to non Welsh speakers and I just correct them. I don't mind that much. Also on the list is Anwen, which I love but it doesn't go as well with surname as Efa. Although there's a terrible temptation to use elephant as a middle name....

I thought a single f was v in Welsh? If I knew it was a Welsh name I'd guess at Ever.

(Probably obvious I'm not a Welsh speaker, just curious!)

'f' in Welsh is pronounced like an English 'v'.

I guess Efa is the equivalent of Eva.

Except 'e' is never pronounced 'eeeee' in the Welsh language.

So 'ever' would be the closest proper Welsh pronunciation.

Oh, cross posts, sorry!

I love it as eh-va. ooh this makes the shortlist interesting!

I've heard it pronounced Ay-va where I live in south wales

Hm. 'EH-va' is correct with that spelling, but living in London, or even outside of Welsh-speaking parts of Wales, she'll spend the rest of her life correcting the spelling and pronunciation of her name. She'd have a better chance with Anwen.

Also...is 'Efa' a bona fide Welsh name? It's not one I've encountered and I lived in one of the Welshiest-Welsh-speaking parts, surrounded by names from The Mabinogion, for a decade.

Anwen would be a lot easier if you live in England! DS has a Welsh name and we live in England...had to think carefully about which ones would work.

My favourite Welsh name is Merereid

Cross post with welshweasel

I wanted to give DS1 a Welsh name since he was born there, but knew we'd be living in England, so it would be mispronounced and misspelled forever which would drive me mad

I have also lived in Mabinogion-land and never heard the name 'Efa' to be honest.
How about a nice name like Buddug?...

Buddug. Amazing name if she's born at the age of 87 years...

Yes elphaba and weasel I know what you mean! It's not one I heard and thought "ooh that's Welsh", although that's good for oh, as he has vetoed really Welsh sounding ones (sadly waves bye bye to angharad and bronwen). I found it when I was looking through a list of Welsh baby girl names, but don't want to stitch her up too much! I do really love it though!

Eh-va is how we'd pronounce it. I'm fairly fluent but my husband and children are fully bilingual.

You'll have trouble with the "eh" sound in England because it's not the normal way to sound out an E. It's not something I considered with one of my daughter's names and without exception people without a Welsh background of some sort just cannot pronounce her name properly without prompting as the "eh" sound just doesn't stick in their mind for pronunciation. Fortunately like Efa it's a pretty enough name even when mispronounced so not too annoying.

Buddug

DS was Wmffre whilst in utero...

*Moves buddug to top of list

Angharad is a beautiful name but in England it would be a disaster - they would be saying 'Anger - ad'

I bloody love Wmffre

I think my oh would be anger-ad if i had pursued it. *falls off chair having made self laugh so much....

Angharad works fine in England (I know one) but she mostly goes by Harry

Efa is lovely.

Also how about:

Nia
Cerys
Carys
Lowri
Arianwen