Eiriana?

[Threelilducks]

I'm picking a Welsh girl's name and deciding between Eiriana, Mabli and Iola. My dh suggested Eiriana and it's growing on me but it is 4 syllables which seems long to me. What do you think of the options?

It sounds like an airline

SemperIdem it's fine to say they are unfamiliar with the name or don't like it. What *Foamrolling" and I are talking about are responses that say "people can't pronounce it" to almost any non-English name. Perhaps they can't pronounce at first but surely they can learn? Even a NN? I guess it just hits home having experienced this with my own kid and even seen MN call certain names stupid, uneducated, etc then proceed to suggest good English names that I guess the English can pronounce. So it's fair to say "you might think it's Welsh but am Welsh and I have never heard it". That's very different from "it difficult to pronounce (for an English person), don't".

Mabli is a lovely name.

I completely agree that mn can be quick to judge unfamiliar names and suggest traditional ones they’re familiar with instead.

However, the Welsh language has certain sounds that English doesn’t have. So I think the issue here isn’t ignorance of the English. It’s considering whether you would be prepared for a lovely Welsh name to be frequently mispronounced by non-Welsh people should they live outside of Wales - not because English people can’t be bothered to learn it, but because the particular sounds made by letter formations are unfamiliar to them (e.g Ll and Rh)

Rhian has only one n.
It isn't Ree-Anne.

Eirian is pronounced EYR-yann. 2 syllables.

If it was pronounced Ey-Ree-Ann it would have a diaeresis on the i, which it doesn't.

So many Welsh names are mangled.

I know you think your way of pronouncing welsh names is the one true way m-u-m but you're wrong. There is a massive difference in Welsh accents and pronunciations of Welsh words across Wales. I was in school with a fluent Welsh speaking girl in a very Welsh speaking area who pronounced her name Eye-ri-ann. As did many other fluent Welsh speaking people in that area. Different isn't necessarily 'mangled'. A North walian would pronounce something completely differently to a south walian. Which one would you accuse of 'mangling'?

This has been really interesting although I did like Eiriana and I can see the responses are mainly that the name is not liked. Though Eirian and Eiranwen are seen as fine. I'm finding picking a name so tricky! I like Ffion too but our surname starts with an F so not sure about that. I thought picking names would be more fun!

@foamrolling, Welsh is phonetic.

If they choose to say it differently, that is up to them. I can think of people who say their name differently to the standard pronunciation.
(Mary, Eira, Rhiannon, Iola, Peter, David, George...).

Do you speak Welsh fluently?

MikeUniformMike please let others have opinions. Your taking over this thread and making it hostile. I wanted a positive conversation about names not a debate. I'm choosing my babies name. It's meant to be positive and fun

Non-Welsh (Irish) person here and my guess at the pronunciation was fairly close. I really wouldnt worry about whether or not people know how to pronounce it on sight - they can always learn another name, it's not hard. I hate seeing names dumbed down into Anglicisations.

Mind you I'm not a fan of Eiriana. Visually I think it's very vowel heavy and not the prettiest looking name. Mabli is a fantastic name, never heard of it before. Iola is ok.

middle name maybe

I'm not Welsh and have no idea about whether it's made up or not but I like it! It sounds ethereal and other-worldly.

I've never encountered Eiriana either.

Eira, Eiry, Eirys, Eirlys are all lovely. My family are from North Wales and so pronounce Ei as Ey (as in hey). In some parts of Wales Ei will sound more like Eye. I think Ey is prettier than eye.

If you like Eiriana, how about Eilonwy. It's the name of a princess in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicle of Prydain books. I thought he had made the name up, but it seems to have been coined and used in the 19th century. www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2015/03/eilonwy.html

Eira is lovely.

Mabli has such a cumbersome, ugly sound.

I know an Aneira (she pronounces it An-EYE-ra) which sounds similar?

Like Mabli as well.

No! Awful - sounds completely made up and frilly.

Mabli works

Mabli seems the firm favourite. Any other Welsh names people like? I prefer something a bit unusual and I'm not so keen on wen names such as awen, awenna etc

@Mucklowe I really like Eira but my baby is due in May so the name 'snow' probably isn't a good fit.

I like Ffion too but have an 'f' surname so would be triple F

Manon

Medi

If you like Eira don't be put off it because your baby's due in May. There's no law that says all Hollys have to be born in December.

Ive never heard of it, but that personally makes it better for me, and i thought it was a lovely name anyway. Im scottish and thought it was pronounced how you have it. Anyway people can learn, its not bloody rocket science. I have a fairly regular name, 3 syllables and people mispronounce it all the time, and misspell it out of recognition. But usually only once, then they learn when corrected.

Totally agree with foamrolling
Depending on where you come from ie South Wales, West Wales or the north pronouncing will be different.

I think most people can learn to pronounce a non English name

What about Alys?

I’m English and got the ‘sound’ correct!

It’s lovely, not too long and yes people can learn it. Plenty of Irish names about and people manage perfectly weep.

thats a pretty name I love the Eri at the beginning, we normally hear Ariana but not Eri