Anwen or iola

[Babybrain12345]

Hi I am welsh and live in Wales although not a welsh speaker but would like a welsh name for our baby girl but can't decide between Anwen or iola. DH loves iola (pronounced Yohla) but it is quite rare where we live so is getting mixed reactions, what do u prefer?

My DH is English, he has the dullest surname in the world but it is a damm sight easier to spell than mine was. I wanted everyone in our family to have the same name so I changed mine as per convention. Not having to spell my name constantly was just a bonus.

My DH is also English. His name is a damn sight more complicated than mine, but my decision not to change my name had nothing to do with that.

When considering names for DD, there wasn’t any doubt that her name would not be an English name. Not one name was vetoed due to being too hard for English family member or friends to pronounce. “They’ll learn”, he said.

Name changed for this as massively outing - I am a Iola. I basically agree with everything Titty says. Don't limit yourself to names English people can pronounce easily.

Half my family are English and I have always lived in South Wales where you never hear the name Iola. Yes it is mispronounced by people the fist time they see it. This really isn't a big deal though, as someone posted upthread, it's a very simple name with 2 syllables. 'Actually it's Yollar not Eye-oh-la'. Job done. The hard of thinking or deliberately obtuse struggle with this but that's good - it's like a little test to see if people are worth my time. For most, ordinary, perfectly pleasant people, it's a nice little ice breaker as they ask me about its origins.

I will admit to getting quite excited if I'm ever in North Wales and people pronounce it properly first time though!

Cariad is terrible. Please don't.
There is a comedian called Cariad Lloyd. The name is how you would refer to Lloyd's girlfriend.