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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Eiriana?

53 replies

Threelilducks · 26/04/2020 19:23

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?

OP posts:
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CaffiSaliMali · 28/04/2020 14:49

OP, how about:

Eira
Eiry
Eirys
Eirlys
Alys
Mari
Nerys
Nia
Tesni
Nansi

BeautyinAutumn · 28/04/2020 17:40

I always see that Welsh names on here really provoke debate. More so than other non anglicised names.

MikeUniformMike · 28/04/2020 19:19

Welsh is completely phonetic, so there is usually only one way of saying a name. Regional accent might modify it slightly, but that will be very subtle. The only name I can think of that has a NW version and a SW version is Siwan.(SI-wan and SHOO-an, Welsh for Joan)

Many of the letters and diphthongs have no non-welsh equivalents.
You just can't teach some people to get the sound right. You have almost no chance of teaching someone to say Lleucu. The spats I get into are about seemingly easy names like Ceri, Eleri and, as you might have seen upthread, Eirian. They are very popular names, especially in my age group, and the ones I know are from different parts of Wales. I even know a male Eirian and a male Ceri (both from South West Wales).

Some sounds aren't part of the welsh language, so when I see them used on welsh language threads I think 'What?' I'd find it hard to transcribe Paul into Welsh.

Some names completely lose their charm when they are mispronounced. Rhys, Dylan, Bethan and Rhian spring to mind. Some names have been 'anglicised' in S. Wales, where Welsh is not spoken as much. (Aneirin and Eira would generally be Uh-NYE-rin and EYE-ra among non-Welsh speakers and they sound much nicer in Welsh)

If it was a thread on Irish names and someone argued that Niamh isn't pronounced Neeve or Nee-um in Ireland you'd get it, or that Orla sounds different, or that Ciara isn't pronounced Kee-uh-ra or See-uh-ra. Some of the Irish names do get quibbled over - Caoimhe and Saoirse, for example.

This link has some lovely Irish names

Have a look at the www.mumsnet.com/Talk/baby_names/3892523-aoife?pg=7 thread if you think Irish names don't get argued over.

Beware of web pages listing Welsh names. Some of them have some peculiar suggestions.

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