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

Evva. But she'll spend her life correcting it.

DS was Wmffre whilst in utero

I know an Wmffre, cutest name ever!!

Megan is also a classic that no one can get wrong.

(Unlike neighbours and friends whose children were variously Rhodd, Cain, Eseullt, Elliw, Mabon...beautiful poetic Welsh names but, Duw, I hoped they never planned on heading too far out of Mam Cymru!)

I have a welsh husband and we live in England. My girls are Anwen and Eira and people can say them no bother. Eira has to spell hers sometimes and gets called Isla sometimes...

WellErr In the North West, 'Wmffre' is a nickname reserved for those who are a bit simple. I don't think I'd burden a child with it - not in that area anyway!

But I know an actual baby Wmffre!?? I'd never heard it in any context until I met him.

(Unlike neighbours and friends whose children were variously Rhodd, Cain, Eseullt, Elliw, Mabon...beautiful poetic Welsh names but, Duw, I hoped they never planned on heading too far out of Mam Cymru!)

Like a guy I worked with who called his son Pwll. Fine if he went to uni in Bangor, but...

We seem to be swarming with small Lleucus here.

If Efa works, what about Nia or Ana?

Eh-va.

I have a Welsh name (I am Welsh) and live in England. Hardly anyone pronounces it correctly. It is really annoying. I do correct people, but they still get it wrong, and then I feel too embarrassed to keep correcting them, so they say my name wrong for life. I include my ILs in this. I don't pronounce my name in an unusual way, either.

To make life easier for your DD, what about:

Anwen
Elsbeth
Megan
Bethan
Catrin

Pwll!? Who in their right minds names a child Pwll??

it's dreadful - doesn't it mean 'pit'?

Yes, or 'pool.'

Ah. Typo. So busy spelling Lleucu....

Pwyll.

Obviously.

There are a few little Efa's coming through Cylch and Meithrin at the moment around here, I heard a non-Welsh speaker pronounce it and it sounded like they were trying to say heifer, put me off it a bit. It does seem to be gaining in popularity here in South Wales though.

Pwyll is from Mabinogion isn't it, not a name I would choose, it's hard even for Welsh speakers to say!

That's just asking for a Saes to call him 'Poo-ill' isn't it, really?

Lleucus? Christ on a bike. My teeth just fell out.

Pwyll is a brilliant name.

Efa pronunciation - E like the e in bet, F like English V, A like the a in cat.
Nearest English word - EVvah.

The list of names that people suggest are dated. Nia, Carys, Bethan, etc were hugely popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Anwen and Gwyneth were already a bit dated by then. Names ending in 'wen' are very dated.

Please consider abbreviated forms and how a non-Welsh speaker would say the name. I dislike Bethan pronounced Bethun, Lowri pronounced like the chap who painted matchstalk men's name, Angharad Ann Garrod or Ann Harrod, Rhiannon Ree Annun, and Rhys pronounced Reece.

Easy names are ones like Bryn and Glyn for boys. Elin (not quite pronounced like Ellin) and Non are both pretty names for girls.

Hope that's a typo. It's not Saes, it's Sais. The language is Saesneg, the English are Saeson, an Englishwoman is a Saesnes, and an Englishman is a Sais (pronounced Sice). Saes is not a word.

Lleucu is a lovely name but it does sound a bit like Llyncu, which means Swallow (verb). So how about Gwennol, which is swallow (noun).

Sorry about going off on one Elph, but I see "Saes" quite often and it really bugs me.

More suggestions: Alis, Tyrion, Mabli, Sali

I love Welsh names!

Twll dîn pob Sais!

What about Gwennap- shortened to Gwen

Gwennan

I happen to have fluent Welsh speaking grandparents. I don't speak the language but I know how the pronounciation works so know how to pronounce it as you've told me it's Welsh but if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't of assumed Efa is Welsh. i would assume it's an anglicised version of Aoife and pronounce it as Ee-fah.

If you're in London you might also want to bare in mind that 'Ever' is how Heather is sometimes pronounced if you're cockney.

Apologies MUM - Sais is absolutely correct. As a pedant myself, I appreciate your correction

And yes, twoevils, they all are, without exception

Hmm nice bit of xenophobia there Two

FFS, imagine someone coming on and saying that all the Welsh are arseholes? Which is what Two said about the English.

Wouldn't go down very well, would it?