Thoughts on Efa for a girl please

[PoppingCandies]

We are Welsh and live in Wales if that swings anyone.

I agree @SpamIAm. Just don't know how to break it to DH. The name is incredibly important to him. But wrong pronunciation to my ears and other Welsh speakers.

@Knittedfairies

Efa is a Welsh name. You are Welsh and living in Wales. Your husband wants the name to honour his aunt. What a random bunch of people on a forum thinks shouldn't matter a bit.

But as OP says, he wants an incorrect pronunciation. You’d probably get away with it in England but it means a lifetime of irritation in Wales. It’s akin to calling your child Amy but insisting that it should be pronounced to rhyme with ‘jammy.’

Another one who would pronounce it Eh-va. That said, I would only need to be told once (or a couple of times 😉) and I would correct myself with your DD. Everyone else would too.

I quite like Cadi. How would you pronounce it? "Kay-dee"?

I really like it

Presumably as you are living in Wales and it is a Welsh name, in RL you won't have to put up with people eye rolling and telling you its an IRISH name and you've spelt it wrong.........

@user495275

I quite like Cadi. How would you pronounce it? "Kay-dee"?

No. A softer sounding "ah" sound if that makes sense.

If it's any consolation, native Irish speakers read Aoife as Ayfa, Eefa, and Ehfa. The ao spelling is said all those different ways. And what they do to it in the Scottish Isles is impossible to describe. Not much help, sorry.
How would you write Eefa in Welsh - Yffa?

This is true but in Wales by Welsh speakers it would be pronounced differently to how DH wants the name pronounced because of his Aunt. It is a made up pronunciation I think

Just saw your update. I think giving your child a name with a knowingly wrong pronunciation is a really bad idea.

DH insists it's not wrong. It's just a different way. But yes I think I agree.

I know two little Efas, we are in the Vale of Glamorgan. Both are pronounced Eh-va. So I guess she would get that.
It’s a beautiful name, people are funny about Welsh names on here.
One of the ones I know has a sister called Cadi . Also a lovely name but I prefer Efa.

people are funny about Welsh names on here.

They are indeed but I don’t think that’s the issue here. OP’s husband wants to do the equivalent of naming their child Jake but asking everyone to pronounce it Jack.

I think Aiofa is a lovely name. Also Efa but pronounced Eva.

Pick one.

People in this country need to start learning how to pronounce names from different languages - every time a thread like this comes up it’s like ohh English people will never be able to pronounce that -

Surely you only need to be told once how to pronounce it and then never make the mistake again?

It’s a lovely name op I’d go for it

I like it and I'm welsh. You won't have a problem of people mispronouncing it in Wales, its a fairly common name in my area.

I suppose it partly depends on where in Wales you are. In Gwynedd, Efa has recently been the most popular baby name for girls. There an Efa could find herself at school with multiple other Efa's who pronounce their name the usual way rather than the way your DH wants. This could be difficult for her and might even be seen as a bit ignorant of the Welsh language because it is using an English pronunciation of the letters and not a Welsh one.

Do you think he'd compromise on Efa as a middle name with his pronunciation?

no.
if it is a welsh name, then it should be pronounced as in welsh.
too much confusion.
re spelling, pronunciation etc.
imagine a lifetime of repeating, explaining over the phone.
choose something else.

I'm from west wales originally and I would pronounce it like the name Ava, with a longer first A, if that makes sense. E in welsh is said like the letter A such as in the word game, for example. Or it is where I'm from anyway, same as the words eraill or the e in beth (the word not the name).

What part of wales are you from OP?

Cadi is pronounced Caddy.

Efa is pronounced Ev-ah (imagine a cockney saying 'BEST EVVA')

@Heyahun

People in this country need to start learning how to pronounce names from different languages - every time a thread like this comes up it’s like ohh English people will never be able to pronounce that -

Surely you only need to be told once how to pronounce it and then never make the mistake again?

It’s a lovely name op I’d go for it

That is literally the opposite of what is happening here. The problem is Welsh people who will pronounce it correctly!

I feel that if your DH loves the name and wants to honour his aunt, it would be a good thing to use the sound and negotiate on the spelling. It's worth finding out where your DH's aunt's name came from. Is/Was she Irish? If so would the spelling Aoife work?

I'm Welsh, went to school with an Efa, pronounced it - Ee-fah ... she's the only Efa so never thought about it but I suppose that is wrong 🤔

For what it's worth, my mother has an English colleague who saw the Welsh name Iolo and liked it, named her son it, pronounced it eye-loh no matter how many times various people told her she was wrong ... many eye rolls and mutterings were had throughout the (Welsh) office.

I’m in Welsh Wales and love it. I know at least 3 little Efas and two teenage Efas. Go for it!

@SeanCailleach, to get the same sound as Aoife, you'd need to spell it
îffa
(uppercase i with a circumflex)