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Welsh girls names that travel outside of Wales

96 replies

Zanzan1 · 25/05/2019 19:08

Following on from my last post suggestions for Welsh girls names that translate well outside of Wales. And keep it nice, was a bit taken aback by someone of the comments on my previous thread.....

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Antonin · 25/05/2019 22:24

I love Anwyn.
Is Bronwyn somewhat dated now?

WatchingTheWheels85 · 25/05/2019 22:29

Eleri
Enid
Ffion

Sophronia · 25/05/2019 23:35

Shouldn’t Anwyn be Anwen?

Bethan
Seren
Carys
Cerys
Elin
Megan
Gwen
Bronwen
Nia
Olwen
Rhiannon

origamiunicorn · 25/05/2019 23:41

Bethan, Nia, Cerys, Alys, Megan, Rhiannon, Ceri

beanaseireann · 26/05/2019 00:29

How should Eleri be pronounced if it doesn't rhyme with celery ?

PearlandRubies194 · 26/05/2019 00:43

@beanaseireann

They’re pronounced differently because of the pronounced ‘r’ and ‘i’ in Eleri. I’m not good at explaining things but hopefully this will make some sense! ‘Celery’ is Cell - ery
‘Eleri’ is Elle - e - rry

‘Anwyn’ is derived from Gwanwyn = Spring. So, differs from ‘Anwen’.
Another variation of ‘Cariad’ is ‘Cariad’

PearlandRubies194 · 26/05/2019 00:44

*sorry, variation of Cariad is ‘Caraid’

OwlBeThere · 26/05/2019 01:47

you do have to be careful though, for instance some of the suggested names travel to england and beyond but with butchered pronunciation which everyone thinks is right.
seren isn't Seh-run. we don't really do schwa sounds (the uh sound) in wales. so its Seh-ren.
similarly bethan is not beth-un. its beth-An.
Megan isn't meg-un though that pronunciation does happen here too, but its Maeh-gan.
cariad- isn't cah-ree-ad. its two syllables. Cahrr-yad.
Cerys and Carys do well. (i have one of those!)
Eira, Eirys, Eirlys, Eiry are all pretty transferable. (i have one of those too!)
Siân is lovely (also have one of those)

OwlBeThere · 26/05/2019 01:54

the middle E in Eleri is more like an 'a' sound. so el-ay-ree is as close as i can do it in typing.
welsh vowels tend to be flatter. so when you say age or name for example its not pronounced with the kind of y ay-ge, and nay-me that most english people in the south of england would naturally do. its a flat a. so thats the sound in the middle of Eleri.

@pearlandrubies194 i've never heard Caraid? that woul be cah-raid?
also not heard of Anwyn being a girls names, its always a -wen suffix for girls names, similiarly bronwen is female, bronwyn is male.

@sleepinglemon i wouldn't say Erin is welsh. its the irish name for ireland isn't it?

floraloctopus · 26/05/2019 05:34

Not sure if Erin is Irish, there is a port Erin on the Isle of Man though.

RubberTreePlant · 26/05/2019 06:03

Manon.

Fuckedoffat48b · 26/05/2019 08:48

We seriously considered Elin and have no Welsh connection.

ItsAllGone19 · 26/05/2019 09:06

How should Eleri be pronounced if it doesn't rhyme with celery ?

El-air-ree but the "air" is the least dominant sound...that's just the "e" sound in most Welsh words. Unlike English the "e" doesn't change sounds when it's in a word.

zen1 · 26/05/2019 09:15

I know someone who had no connections to Wales who named their daughter Sian to rhyme with Diane!

PeachandBee · 26/05/2019 16:54

I'm Rhiannon. Never knew anyone else called it or met anyone able to spell it without guidance (or a knowledge of Fleetwood Mac!). I moved to milton Keynes a decade ago and I live on a street with no less than 4 other Rhiannons! In fact, in a consultants waiting room, only the first name was called and three of us stood up. Mk idea what happened in MK but it's certainly travelled okay to here!

My sister is Olwen, has nothing but trouble. Wouldn't recommend that, lovely though it is.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 26/05/2019 17:46

Megan. Bethan. Rhiannon. Sian. Cerys. Nerys.

MikeUniformMike · 26/05/2019 17:50

The misspellings! It's Angharad not Anghared, Anwen not Anwyn, Bronwen not Bronwyn.
Caraid is not a name.
Cariad as OwlBeThere pp is pronounced Carr-yad not Carry-ad. However nice you might think it is, it is, be aware that it means Love, Sweetheart, Girlfriend, Boyfriend and Charity. Cariad Lloyd, the actress, to me is called Lloyd's Girlfriend.
Eleri is pronounced El-ERRY but may sound like El-AIRy in South Wales. I know many Eleris and they all say it as Lerry.Teleri is Tell-ERRy, Meleri is Mel-ERRy
Arwen isn't strictly Welsh but gets used as the feminine form of Arwyn.In Welsh, the Ar bit is like the arr in Harry.
Rhianna is a recent name made up of Rhian and anna. It will lead to a lifetime of misspellings, and people assuming she was named after Rihanna.

The stress is always on the last but one syllable.
C is always pronounced as K, unless it is Ch, which is a different letter.

I would avoid names with the followinh letters or letter combinations in them
Ll (e.g. Llio, Elliw)
ngh (e.g. Angharad)
f (e.g. Myfanwy)
Ff (e.g. Fflur)
dd (e.g. Buddug
eu (e.g. Heulwen)
aw (e.g. Alaw, Gwawr)
u (e.g. Lleucu)
ae (e.g. Aeron)
ei (e.g. Eira)
ew (can't think of one)
ow (e.g. Lowri)
ai (e.g. Glain)
-ir (e.g. Einir)

I would also avoid names ending in -a, -en, -an, -ian and -in, because they tend to sound like -uh, -un, -un, -ee-ann and -in in English.

Most of the e.g. names I've listed are lovely but do not sound as they look if you don't speak Welsh.

The Ceris I know complain of getting called Serry or Cherry, and I've heard Cerys being called Cerise.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 26/05/2019 17:57

Lowri. Linnet. Teagan. Gwen.

MikeUniformMike · 26/05/2019 18:00

Names that work:
Tesni (Tessny)
Mari (Marry)
Gwen
Carys (dated)
Delyth (dated)
Betsan (BETT-san)
Anwen (not keen but it works. ANN-wen)
Non (Nonn)

MikeUniformMike · 26/05/2019 18:02

Linnet and Teagan aren't Welsh.
Lowri is nice but will be pronounced as Lowry - it isn't pronounced like that in Welsh.

Doilooklikeatourist · 26/05/2019 18:04

Eluned won’t work outside Wales
Nether will Eleri , Angharad , Llinos , Fflur or Mererid

Carys ( or Cerys )
Manon
Seren ( though I always think Serena is better )
Catrin
Elin

Groovee · 26/05/2019 18:07

We had a Ynyr and a Ynyra in the same class who weren't related and none of the parents had a welsh connection.

MikeUniformMike · 26/05/2019 18:10

Ynyra is a new one.
Ynyr is a boy's name

Groovee · 26/05/2019 18:38

Ynyr was a boy. Ynyra was a girl. Had never heard of either. But looking them up there was the welsh connection.

SmokeAndBone · 26/05/2019 18:46

I'm English - and have no idea to pronounce many of these and so may inadvertently offend!

Eluned?