Ellis & Cai proper welsh names or chavy?

[firefirejugdypantsonfire]

I need a welsh boys name for DS3. My DH is welsh but never suggests anything. I'm English.

I want something shortish and that can be easily read by non welshies.

Are Cai & Ellis options or not really Welsh names ?

I quite like Euan / Ewan but is the welsh version Iuan ? As sure that would be said differently in welsh and in England ( where we live I guess it would end up as Ian)

In the family there is already Bryn, Gareth, Huw, Dylan, Rhys, Ianto

Sorry, back several years later to say,

• Ioan is Yo-wan

• I know a 30 year old Alun who was always called Alan

• I had a friend who called her son Aneurin but after a couple of weeks changed it because (a) she wasn't Welsh and people kept asking if she was and (b) people kept saying it like aneurysm. She changed it to Emanuel but always said it Emanuelle, which vaguely irritated me.

• I don't know why I need you to know these things.

Both are nice names and easy for non-Welsh speakers to pronounce. As many have said, the Welsh spelling is Elis, as 'll' is a letter with a very different pronounciaton to 'l' in Welsh.

I wanted Llew for a boy, but my Scandinavian in-laws could not say 'll' at all.

I had an uncle Illytyd, but he never went out of Wales.. !

Dai is just a nickname for David/Dafydd. Welsh people would think you were crazy to call your baby it.

My welsh cousin has a son named Cai - it is a welsh name (I think its lovely). My other welsh cousin has a son named Evan (and a daughter named Elin - known within the family as Evan & El)

Other welsh boys names I like in the family are: Lloyd, Nye, Tudor & Morgan.

SemperIdem, I would say Aneirin/Aneurin as A-neu-rin. The 'neu' doesn't have an equivalent english sound.
This is quite good: forvo.com/word/aneirin/

I don't think a Welsh-speaking person would use this name for a baby nowadays. Non-welsh speakers would probably say it as Ann-EYE-rin
or ANN-Ur-in.

Eu and Ei combinations are tricky.

Loving Cynlais. We're onto proper old uncle names now aren't we!

Meurig

Gomer

Arwel

I know somone whose kids were Bronwen and Llewelyn. They lived in USA for a while and people thought they had called their son

Lou-Ellen

Evan
Lloyd (I know it's not the Welsh spelling)
Idris
Rhodri
Macsen
Gethin
Tudor
Steffan
Merlin
Griff/Griffin
Griffith
Emrys
Cadoc
Celyn
Teilo

Caio if you like Cai?

Ellis is fine but Cai is chavvy.

Caio if you like Cai?

Hey, if we’re going down that route, how about Llangollen, Merthyr or Llanelli?

Talking of Merthyr - I had a Great Aunt called Tydfil (my DGGF who named her after his favourite place to drink - but not on a Sunday!)

Haydn?

Evan is Ifan pronounced 'E-Van' my grandfather (Taid) was called Emyr... Owain is another popular Welsh name, Steffan is the Welsh for Stephen

Sion?

Siôn doesn't work outside Wales. He'd get called Sigh-un, Shaun or Sean. Tomos?

Cai - isn't that an Islamic name?godfinder.org/index.html?q=Cai

A few Welsh names are also arabic, Idris is as well.

Is Cai arabic? There isn't a C in Arabic?
Names like Luc and Marc are also French. Luc would not work in England - it would probably get said as Leek, Luck, Look or Luke.

Welsh speaker here

Elis - def just the one l
Ioan - YO-Ann, really like this
Iwan - not quite like Euan. More like EE-wan (not EE- wun!)
Another one on our list was Steffan (welsh version of Stephen pron as you see it - again is Steff-ann not Steff-un)
I think Cai is ok too

Iwan sounds like YOO-ann or EU-ann.

Rhodri - watched the drama Keeping Faith with an adorable baby Rhodri.

I'm English but have lived in north Wales for the last decade. English people really do struggle with pronouncing Welsh names so that is something to consider. I like Cai and I've met a few toddlers round here with it as a name.
I'm pregnant and we are having a boy, we have an English first name picked out but his middle name is going to be Llion. I'm fully expecting complaints from my English family about how they can't say It, my dd's middle name is ffion and they moaned about that which is a lot simpler haha.

At least Llion will be misprounced as Lee-on, which isn't bad.
It's quite nice - makes me think of somebody jolly.
Please think twice before naming your children something like Euryn or Lleucu.