Olwen

[ZebraKid71]

Thoughts? Any significant issues with it?

Due number 3 in January and struggling with girls names. Both my other kids have known but unusual names (think they were both 700 and something in last years stats) but that have a well known shortening/nickname. I don't care about names matching but this would fit nicely.

I lived in Wales for years but we aren't Welsh.

I like it, some people might mistake it as a boy's name but its easy to spell/say and is pretty

Talking of Welsh names ending in wen my late sister was called Ceridwen which was unusual even in Wales. She was always known as Ceri.

@MikeUniformMike

Maureen is nice, as is Eileen.

They tend to be granny names - people older than 70.

cobblers Olwyn is the Welsh word for wheel. The suffix -wyn is always male, and -wen is female.

Olwen is the Welsh equivalent to something like Pat or Shirley. Not old enough to be retro.

RantAndDec

Ha ha, yes I've just found it. No wonder mum preferred to be called something else she must have known even if her parents didn't.

I quite like Olwen, it's simple and unfussy.

I know an Olwyn through work. Thanks to the knowledgeable Welsh posters on here I always think of wheels when I come across her

Olwen is nice but a lot of people seem to pronounce Wen names as Wyn which makes them either boys names or no-name and when Olwen is mispronounced as Olwyn it becomes the Welsh word for wheel.

Look how often a thread about Bronwen gets 'I prefer the Bronwyn spelling' on here, or how often 'Bronwyn' is suggested as a Welsh name on Welsh name threads.

I know an Alwen who gets Alwyn a lot, but also Olwen and Olwyn a lot too. I also know an Alwyn who has a similar experience.

Olwen is theoretically simple Ol as in Oliver and wen as in when but some people will unfortunately call her Olwyn which may or may not bother you.

Alwenna is nice, as is Morwenna and the wenna sound feels a bit more modern.

There are loads of lovely Welsh names though if you fancy a Welsh name? Nia, Nerys, Mari, Ffion, Alys, Eira, Teleri for example.

I know an Olwyn too Drama - my Welsh speaking mother was highly amused!

Stop it with your wheels you daft bunnies.

"Olwen" doesn't even mean "white footprint" That's just a lovely story to add rich imagery to a tale told by firelight. It's a lovely ancient name from the times before Welsh was written down.

@SeanCailleach I'm a fluent Welsh speaker. Olwen very definitely does mean white footprint (or, at least, "white remains"). It may not be the origin, I'm not up on name etymology, but it is what today's Welsh speakers would understand.

My Welsh DM's name was Olwyn.

I don't like it at all, very dowdy name. Having said that I do appreciate that it's not Ella/Sophie/Ava etc blandness and would stand out from the rest.

@cobblers123, olwyn is the welsh word for wheel.
It isn't a traditional welsh girl's name.

I like it.

Also like Arwen?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culhwch_and_Olwen. The name was from how flowers grew wherever she had walked.

Ceridwen is also an old welsh name, It is pronounced Kerr (as in Kerry) IDwen, but the ones I know, or knew as they are no longer with us, were called KRID-wen, which isn't very pretty.

The granny-name trend will bring back names like Doris and Hilda because they will seem fresh to younger people.
30 years ago I would not have predicted that names like Eva and Elsie would be popular again.

Any word with "-en" tends to get pronounced "-in". It's most noticeable in Kiwi (New Zealand) accents. If you think of it as an accent rather than switching from feminine to masculine then it might bother you less.

I kniw three little girls called Olwen, it's a lovely name.

know

I like it.

I know one Olwen, she’s in her 70’s so I think if it as an older woman’s name

I like it. I know a beautiful and very cool Olwen in her early 20s.

I know a NZer who calls himself Bin, but I wouldn't use that as a reason not to use a name as pretty as Olwen.

I just immediately thought of The Handmaids Tale! Sorry!

Oll- = "great" in Celtic
-Wyn/wen = "friend" it's an Indo-European word you get "win" in German and "winder" in Hindi, and "fin" in Irish.

In Irish and Welsh the "Fin"/ "win" part is usually taken to mean "fair" or "white". When you reinterpret with "friend" you get more credible result. Eg Olwen means "great friend" more sensible than "white footprint".