Welsh girls names that work in England

[sallysparrow157]

My partner and I are both (North) Welsh but living in England, I’m pregnant with twin girls and so far have been pretty useless in thinking of names...

We’re looking for names that are easy to pronounce by non Welsh speakers and also don’t look like we’ve spelt it wrong just to be ‘interesting’!

I’m not a fan of names like Seren or Enfys.

I don’t really mind names that are seen as a bit dated (but on the other hand lots of names that were common in my generation are names of people I was in school with and didn’t get on with!)

Help!!

Cariad is a welsh word that depending on context can mean Love, Sweetheart, Darling, Charity, Girlfriend or Boyfriend,
It is pronounced Carr-yad (2-syllables and not Carry-ad).
Lloyd's girlfriend or Lloyd's boyfriend translated is Cariad Lloyd.

Faith, Hope and Charity translated is Ffydd, Gobaith, Cariad. Maybe she has siblings called Faith and Hope. Ffydd sounds quite nice but Gobaith would probably get called Gobby.

We have a 4 year old Eira and live in SE England. It can take a few tries to get people to pronounce it but once they get it they don't forget and we always have people saying it's a lovely unusual name.

Eira is not easy to pronounce if you don't speak Welsh. The Ei part just not quite Ey. the ra bit is not ruh. I would avoid as you probably get Ira or Ay-ruh. If you are scottish, you probably can say it.

Lovely name but having everyone I meet take a few tries to get my name right would soon be a PITA.

Alwyn and Emyr are boys’ names! The op will know this but for the benefit of others!

Elin

Catrin

My favourite Welsh girls name is Celyn.

Others I think would work in England are Betsi, Gwen, Teleri, Branwen, Elena, Sara, Lowri.

Mabli

Megan and Bethan both work - might not be obviously Welsh though?
I work with a Manon - until I met her sister who also has a Welsh name I had assumed the family must be French though! It's a gorgeous name either way
Ffion - I was friends with a lovely Ffion growing up if that balances out the awful girl you knew!?

Mine and my sisters names are here quite a bit 💁🏼‍♀️🤣 love Anwyn and Manon!

Cariad

Cariad isn’t a name. (Already discussed on the thread.)

Fair enough. I know it isn't "a name". But given that there are plenty of non-name words used as a name in English, don't see why it can't be an option. If you don't like it, that's a different thing.

We have a few girls named 'Cariad' in this area

Looking forward to posts suggesting Meicrodon (Meic, for short), Cadeir (Cadi for short) and Caws.

I have a Bronwen and a Meredith living in england. Bronwen is often said 'bron-wun' rather than 'bron-wen' and Meredith is 'Meh-ruh-dith' rather than 'M'red-eth' but they are quite subtle differences rather than outright incorrect pronunciation.

Megan
Anwen
Gwen
Bethan
Alys
Sara
Seren
Cari
Mari
Beti
Lili
Nel
Ela
Cadi
Elen
Lowri
Lora
Carys
Wenna
Menna
Gwenno
Gwennan
Nansi
Mali
Mabli
Alaw
Awel
Lois (probably have to correct low-iss pronunciation a few times)
Mai
Elena

I know a pair of Welsh twins called Eiry and Rhian, no one has a problem pronouncing their names and I think they go nicely together.

My SIL is Welsh. I love the name Arwen. My nieces are called Rhiannon and Carys.

tabbie, how do you say Eiry and Rhian?

You could also try just names that work in wales that are neutral not english or welsh. Such traditional names such as hannah , anna

North welsh here as well , dd's bought up in England.

Bethan
Elin
Cerys

Never had a problem as such, but Bethan is assumed to be Bethany. I thought elin was the easiest but it was constantly spelled Ellen. Cerys was pronounced Cerise by a HV!

Also on our list was Bronwyn,

But that aside, I'm now a rainbow leader in north wales

In a group of 18 I have three Serens and another on the waiting list so it is super popular, Mabli is also lovely (have two of them)

Other names around that I like:
Lowri
Manon
Fiona
Llinos (difficult for English tongues though)
Nia
Alys
Haf (summer)

If Neveah is a name, why not use Nefoedd as a name or Ddeofen? You could have Wen as a mn.

Please do not call a child Bronwyn. It is spelt Bronwen.
Fiona isn't welsh. You might see Ffiona though or Eifiona- Ffion or Eifion (boy's name) with an a on the end.

@MikeUniformMike - bloody autocorrect - I meant to type Ffion not Fiona.

I thought you might. Ffion is lovely. Pretty meaning - foxglove. Pretty sound and looks nice written. Probably not too complicated once people know how to spell and say it. Might get Fee On.
I wish I didn't feel so strongly about my language but so many names have been ruined for me. Don't get me started on place names Abba-sock and Bah-ler, Banger, Care-wiss...

I vote for Ffion and Catrin.