Enfys as a middle name

[Shinnyyyyyyy]

Recently discovered we are having another girl.

My last pregnancy ended in miscarriage and so I wanted to incorporate a name with a rainbow meaning for the baby I’m carrying.

We’re still not sure on the first name but I really want Enfys as a middle name but DH says no... I was hoping for other opinions though to see whether I’m being daft or not.

I think it’s lovely. I know a grown up Enfys :)

If your DH is set against it, tbh I think no amount of randomers on the Internet agreeing with you will help with this one.

How do you pronounce it?

Not sure on the pronunciation but makes me think of Emphysema

Are you Welsh/live in Wales? If so, then yes. If not, then not many people will be able to pronounce it properly, which would be a shame.

Oh, OP. I'm sorry for your loss. But I really wouldn't use that, as it's not a name that most people would recognise. Your new baby will have her own identity and will be special in her own way. You can still talk about the baby you lost, but I do think you need to let your daughter be herself.

As an aside: fascinating to see how things have changed in 40 years. My mum miscarried my DSis's twin. She just shrugged and said my DSis probably kicked the twin out/twin probably had something wrong with it anyway. I wonder how she really felt. She once said she had a name for the twin.

Reminds me of stars wars.
But as PP said, if DH doesn’t like it, maybe time to think of something else.

@SoMuchToBits - not living in Wales at the moment but hoping to move back.

This baby will have an older sister called Seren which is always being spelt as Serin by DHs London relatives. I had hoped to avoid that by making Enfys the middle name

I love the name Seren! Can't understand why people would have a problem with that either, as I'd think it would be easy to pronounce for people from all over the UK.

I guess if you are hoping to move back to Wales anyway and Enfys would be the middle name, then you aren't going to have to explain the pronunciation too much. What are you thinking for first name? (Or can't you say?)

@somuchtobits - thanks!

For Seren it was a toss up between Seren or Cerys so decided when she was born and I saw her that she would be Seren. When I was expecting her we knew it would be the choice of those two names but this time I’m stumped 🤷‍♀️

Still undecided on first name. I said to DH he could pick the first name if I could have Enfys as a middle name but he doesn’t like it

Does Seren have a Welsh middle name?

I think Arwen/Anwen would go well with Seren as a first name (and either would be easy to pronounce for non-Welsh people.)

@Ahhhmythirddecade name change fail!

'Enfys' is lovely and hard to see your DH's objection to a middle name. Maybe it depends on your choice of first name? I know a 'Heulwen' which is nice too.

‘It’s not a name that most people would recognise’ nice to see that the English-centric bias is alive and well here. There are many places where it’s perfectly recognisable.
OP, you and I have very similar taste, my daughters are Carys, Enfys and Awen . i nearly had a Seren and only decided against it because of the mispronounciation that happens. Beautiful names
Enfys is pronounced EN-viss for those asking and I think it’s a lovely middle name especially for that reason.

@SoMuchToBits people often mispronounce Serenn, it’s not Seh-run as people insist. It’s either Seh-ren (if you are north walian) or if you’re from South wales it’s a flat ‘eh’ sound.

i guessed that's how its pronounced. makes it sound like envy to most English speakers. sorry to be English-centric, but English is spoken much more widely than welsh; its likely when grown up she will spend at least some time living in English-only speaking areas, for work probably.
anyway, ask your husband to write down say 5 that he likes, you do the same, until you coincide. good luck.

Not keen as it sounds like emphysema...
I’d go with a middle name of Hope or Sky...
Or a translation of sun as the sun comes out to make a rainbow? Example: Solen.
If you’re wanting a Welsh name, I think Carys and Alys are lovely!

P.S Congratulations and sorry for your terrible loss before. I’ve had 7 miscarriages and am in late stages of pregnancy with my first now so I know it’s a rough road!

• First child of viable pregnancy that is!

It's a lovely name. I don't think all this angst over how English people portray it is necessary, especially as it's a middle name. I had a thread on here asking about a Welsh name for my DS and got so much negativity. A friend in RL said to me, if people can't learn a name that comes from their own country when we live somewhere with many different nationalities now, that says a lot more about them.

@OwlBeThere There's always someone who's looking to be offended .

I'm guessing that, statistically, there are significantly fewer Welsh people on MN than there are English people. This is not English-centric. I do in fact feel slightly the same about what I would see as London-centric comments - I wouldn't be snarky and offended about them, though.

I think it would be fine as a mn which most people won't know anyway.

What about Violet, as one of the colours in the rainbow and a recognisable name?

Enfys is lovely, Iris also means rainbow if you like that.

I’m sorry for your loss

Enfys is lovely. DS has one in his class. Also love Haf, but obviously this will work best at certain times of year.

Love Enfys. It's on our list for middle names for hopeful future DC#2 (who would also be a rainbow baby).

Welsh names tend to get a bit of flak on here. I posted about DD1's name when I was pregnant 6 years ago and had all sorts of comments about how no one would know how to pronounce it everyone would hate it etc. Weve never had any issues (Celyn is the name).

Enfys in pronounced Envis. (like Elvis)
I'm not keen on it as a name, and would also suggest Iris.
Sorry about your loss.