Welsh ppl help us! Elin? Middle name?

[rachelrcrossley]

Hello,
I am currently 24wks pregnant with our second child, and it looks like we are having a girl. Husband and I both fell in love with the name Elin, Ellie for short. So happy as I thought we'd never agree! Now starting to worry whether pronunciation will be too much of an issue. I am half Welsh, husband grew up in Wales and we live about 2 miles from the border, so hopefully people will get that it's the Welsh pronunciation. Neither of us are Welsh speakers, and I thought that the pronunciation was 'el-in' with the el as in elephant but I have since heard some Welsh speakers pronounce it more like air-leen. Just feel a bit daft naming our daughter and then potentially getting the pronunciation 'wrong'! Would Elen be easier? The other part of me says there's no such thing as 'wrong' and we should just go for the version we like!

If we do go for Elin the next struggle is with the middle name. Current favour is Eva. Surname is Crossley. Older brother is Owen Arthur if that helps.

What do people think? Any other suggestions? Please help!!!

"Hard i is like the ee in been, except much shorter, no real equivalent in English. "

The 'in' part of Elin is pronounced more or less like the word 'in' in English.

People not familiar with the name will use Ellen instead, but you would have that problem with any Welsh name.

Gwenfynhaf
Completely disagree with you there, there is a definite difference in my ear (north welsh, if that makes a difference)

We've noticed that her godfather, from North Wales is the only one to say Eleen (ish) all those from the south, even Welsh speakers say Elin.

Now liking Elin Rose or Elin Beth. What do others think? X

Love both. Slightly prefer Elin Beth.

I really like Elin Beth. Feels more Welsh to me than Elin Rose.

I'm Welsh. I would say Eh-lin. Have you considered Elinor? Maybe easier to pronounce. What about Elin Rhiannon, Elin Rose, Elin Sophia as middle names?

Elinor will just be pronounced as Eleanor wouldn't it?

More drawn to Elin than Elinor, as I specifically wanted a Welsh name. Husband likes Elin Beth too, so we might be getting somewhere. Also can say she's named after my grandma, who was Elizabeth (but Elin Elizabeth a bit too much I think!) x

Elin Rhiannon is nice too though, and Rhiannon is my middle name x

I pronounce it El-in but if you have a strong Welsh accent it will sound like Air-lin. You call your daughter what you want and pronounce it however you want. It's an accent thing.