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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Welsh names

64 replies

isitwinetimeyet16 · 29/01/2018 18:52

Hello! Due soon with DC2 - we already have a Bethan and I need some ideas for other Welsh names! I quite like Elin for a girl but boys I have no idea.... would love some inspiration!

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Heartofglass12345 · 30/01/2018 14:35

Oo i like Lowri too

ErrantBakedBean · 30/01/2018 14:49

I really like Halwyn for a boy. I think it means 'salt'. And Hal is a great nickname.

WellTidy · 30/01/2018 15:19

Mike the three Caryses I know are all very much under 50 and none of them speak Welsh (but all live and were born in Wales).

MikeUniformMike · 30/01/2018 15:25

I get that Well. Dylan, Carys and Bethan seem dated to welsh speakers because they were very popular in the 1960s. They're Darren and Karen type names to me, but to people who don't speak welsh they seem new and fresh.

spiderlight · 31/01/2018 13:04

Rhidian
Rhys
Sion
Aled
Elis
Macsen

Ffion
Cadi
Cerys
Carys
Sian

MikeUniformMike · 31/01/2018 13:29

LouiseBrooks, people who only speak one language, typically English, really struggle.Anything vaguely complicated and you will get eye-rolling, throat or phlegm clearing, WTAF type comments, etc.

For example, they will simply not understand that a Tobias is Tob-ee-as not Tob-eye-as or that Ffion isn't really Fiona or that Rhian isn't pronounced Ree-Anne.

You can't change these people, but you can make your life easier for your children . I know it's not right but having had someone poke fun at your name is awful.

I know I am generalising a bit but I have been upset by it more than once.

MikeUniformMike · 31/01/2018 13:42

“Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language” Dale Carnegie

Not good when somebody decides that your "That has to be a pisstake" name contains a spit in it.

Original poster
isitwinetimeyet16 · 01/02/2018 05:52

That's interesting Mike - I didn't realise the background that Bethan and Dylan were popular in the 60s! Bethan couldn't be any easier to say but we still get a lot of 'Bethany' which irritates me (so similar but I hate that name, probably unfairly!) so I can only imagine if I went for something harder to pronounce. I loved Seren but a Welsh speaking friend told me it's only recently been used as a name instead of a word and still sounds jarring which put me off a bit. Some absolutely fantastic suggestions, have given me loads of ideas - thank you so muxh everyone who took the time to comment.

OP posts:
Shednik · 01/02/2018 12:13

Bethan, Carys and Dylan are definitely not Sharon and Darren in this part of Wales. They are more Catherine and David. Names that you'll find in all classes and generations.

Seren is also a popular name that has been used for 30+ years (Welsh speaker here)

DullAndOld · 01/02/2018 12:18

well I knew a Seren who must be at least 60 by now, so that is nonsense.

My favourite girls' names in Welsh are Angharad (the English would murder it and make it 'Anger-ad') and Buddug..:) make of the latter what you will, Anglophones.

Favourite boys' names - Iestyn, Ieuan, Ianto. If you are going to be living in England, these could present a problem.

Newdadofgirl · 01/02/2018 12:19

If my beautiful girl (called Efa Miwriel) had been a boy she would have probably been Macsen (last Roman Governor and a bit of a hero).
I also love:
Afon,
Dewi,
Arthen,
Huw,
Dylan,
Twm Sion
Rhys! (I am Rhys Dyfed!!)
Dyfed!
Llyr,
Aled,
Llew, and Llywelyn,
Osian,
I also love Bendigeidfran (from Mabinogion but a bit of a mouthful! LOL)
Aled,
Alun,
Jac.

Newdadofgirl · 01/02/2018 12:30

I also love Rhiannon (my Mam)
Mair (gran)
Blodwen,
Blodyn,
Cariad,
I also love Blodeuwedd (from Mabinogion but send her to Karate lessons)
Elin

Newdadofgirl · 01/02/2018 12:32

I also love Jac

LouiseBrooks · 01/02/2018 12:48

LouiseBrooks, people who only speak one language, typically English, really struggle.Anything vaguely complicated and you will get eye-rolling, throat or phlegm clearing, WTAF type comments, etc.

Yes I know since I have in my family a Lowri, Rhian, Llewellyn, Catrin, Efa and even a Meinir (cue jokes about miners of course). Half the time it's just laziness or, as a friend of mine once said, "the spirit of the Empire" being alive and well, rather than not being able to pronounce some of them (Lowri and Efa for example are hardly difficult). I personally think we shouldn't give in to it but I'm a stubborn cow.

DullAndOld · 01/02/2018 12:51

ye it's an English thing tbh, making out like you cannot pronounce any name that is slightly different.
My surname is vaguely Irish and is quite long. the laughs that English have had with it! Hilarious!
And don't ask an English person to pronounce LL without saying CL, it will be a waste of time.

TatianaLarina · 01/02/2018 12:53

The problem with Emlyn is that it’s shortened to Em which is a girls’s name. I know a boy who was teased for that.

Love the name Carys. As OP doesn’t live in Wales Welsh fashions don’t really signify.

MikeUniformMike · 01/02/2018 12:54

Blodyn and Cariad are awful.
Cariad is sweetheart/love/boyfriend/girlfriend/darling/charity...
Blodyn is flower.

DullAndOld · 01/02/2018 12:55

nobody is named 'Cariad' in Wales , or 'Blodyn,.

winterwonderly · 01/02/2018 12:56

Huw

MikeUniformMike · 01/02/2018 12:57

The 'll' also gets said as thl. Urgh!

Achafi · 01/02/2018 12:59

Llewellyn, Bleddyn, Osian, Geraint, Gareth, Huw, Caradog all made it to my shortlist.

MikeUniformMike · 01/02/2018 13:09

Llewellyn is an anglicised version. Llewelyn or Llywelyn is much nicer.
Geraint won't really work outside Wales, and is a bit dated.

You can say fashion doesn't matter and in a way it doesn't, but I think it says "Parents don't speak Welsh".
Names like Seren, Carys, Anwen etc do that.

Heartofglass12345 · 01/02/2018 13:37

I knew someone called cariad lol

MikeUniformMike · 01/02/2018 13:49

Re. Fashion in other countries and cultures, I've noticed Europeans who give British names to their children tend to give dated names. Kevin and Alison, for example.

TatianaLarina · 01/02/2018 14:07

A) the parents could speak Welsh, like the names and not care about fashion in the way you do (or not remember the 60s), and B) I couldn’t give a stuff whether their parents speak Welsh.

I have an Ancient Greek name, my parents don’t speak that. I have an Irish friend who’s given her children Irish names but doesn’t speak a word herself. See also French, Italian, Spanish etc.