Welsh girls names that travel outside of Wales

[Zanzan1]

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.....

But Iona is a welsh name. It is from Ionawr, which is January.

Lona is a welsh name.

If I’ve got it wrong happy to be corrected
Genuinely would have associated Iona as being Scottish

Iona is scottish. The welsh name Iona was popular mid 20th century, so a welsh Iona would probably be somewhere between 50 and 80 yrs old.

Also be aware of the h in Rhiannon and Rhian. Most English speakers miss it out when pronouncing it. The R needs to be rolled a little and the h is heard, forvo.com/word/rhiannon/#cy is a good example.

I like Meredith. It took me ages before I realized it wasn't
MER-EH-DITH (unless you were English)
but
m-RrED-ith

Now tell me it isn't Welsh.

There is no h in Rhiannon. Rh is a letter in its own right in Welsh. It isn't pronounced Ree-Annun.

Meredydd is a boy's name, anglicised to Meredith which is used as a girl's name. Meredydd is pronounced Mer-ED-ith (th as in English word with or the). Meredith is pronounced MER-uh-dith (th like in thing or thong)

@veeboo thanks!

Welsh and Scottish are Celtic derived so there's going to be crossovers of names.

Me DD has a Welsh name but we live in Wales.

I do t think you should have anything too Welsh unless you have a Welsh connection? Just fibe it a bit odd.

Like, don't go for for anything like Lleucu, Llinos, Emrys etc.

Also don't like when people choose a Welsh name but say it the English way (example:- Iwan is Yoo-AN not yew-un or Rhian/Rhys without rolling your r).

Hear, hear. I'll just add that There is no R in RHIAN. Rh is not R and H. It is the letter Rh.
Rh is a rolled R and and h said at the same time.
Rhian is awful pronounced Ree-un or Ree-Anne.

Not Rheinallt, then...

Not for a girl, LadyMon. Rheinallt is a fine name (with only 7 letters) but if you don't speak Welsh would you be able to guess how to say it.

Rh-ayn-acht is how I would attempt to pronounce Rheinallt. Am I even close?!

Ish. Good try. Ll and Ch are completely different sounds. I dont think any welsh first names other than biblical ones will have a 'ch' (like in loch) sound in them.
The ei is a short ey or eh sound. (think like the ai in Daily and not like the ay in Day).

translate.google.co.uk/#view=home&op=translate&sl=auto&tl=en&text=Rheinallt

My DD middle name is Seren as Im Welsh. DH is English and he didnt know how to pronounce it... I wanted it to be her first name but we live in SE and DH felt people wouldnt know if she was a boy or a girl unless they had a Welsh connection....

I thought this was nonsense, but its her middle name as a compromise. And hes right - hardly anyone ever pronounces it properly - most dont even try. Most people think Ive spelt serene wrong. So Im glad it wasnt her first now!

I love Eelri and Bronwen .... I think most welsh names as with most Irish names traditionally spelt are going to cause an issue if you arent in Wales. If you live in Hereford maybe not as geographically you are so close - Scunthorpe would be an issue!

What about names like Dilys or Glenys. I think they travel, but are they horribly old fashioned?

They are horrible.
How about Manon. Nice name with no pronunciation issues. Check how it goes with the surname.

Seren, Cerys, Bethan.

Iona is a Welsh name. Pronounced to rhyme with Donna. Yonna.

It is a different name from the Scottish Eye-oh-na.

There are loads of Ionas (Yonna) where I live, of all ages.

I was talking to my friend Ceri over the weekend and she says she gets called Cherry, Serry, Seery and Cherie, and this is in a county that borders Wales.