Bronwen or Bronwyn?

[panpandemic]

Which one is the correct spelling? I have been under the impression that Bronwen is the right one but someone today told me it's not. Bronwyn is.

Apparently Bronwyn is the original spelling and this person mentioned knowing so as they are Welsh themselves. However I have never met any Welsh Bronwyn, all have been -wen and it's the first time I ever hear this.

So which one is correct?

Spell it Bronwen - Wen is definitely the feminine in Welsh. It's possible there are a few Bronwyn's about and that it's the original spelling, but it's certainly uncommon now.

There is the odd exception to the Wen/Gwen thing in feminine names - for instance Gwyneira is usually spelt like this, even though it has the same meaning as Eirwen. And obviously Paltrow has made the Gwyneth spelling famous.

Bronwyn is the American spelling.

Wen is feminine, wyn is masculine, or in this case, Americanised

Either way it’s a lovely sounding name. Hope you pick it @panpandemic

This is what I tried explaining about -wen and -wyn but she kept mentioning Bronwyn was the original one. I didn't go on about it as I slightly doubted myself for a bit there and also she mentioned being Welsh and since I am not I just didn't want to come off as patronising.

She even mentioned Cadwyn being the Welsh form of Kaitlyn which I have also never heard of. I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to Welsh names but I like to think I'm not that lost, I even tried Google and nothing about those two names being related.

She's confused by the Y. Bronwyn is the Anglicised version of the Welsh original.

Bronwen is the Welsh one. And the original.

Bronwen is the correct spelling in Welsh.

Bronwen also looks easier to pronounce. Not sure if you’re taking suggestions, but if you are then I’d like to suggest Arwen.

She is wrong in every possible way. Bronwen is correct for a girl.

Your friend may be from Wales but is she Welsh first language? The advice here about Bronwen being right for a girl is pretty easy to Google. And use the sound function to hear how it should be pronounced. There's three vowels in there!

She’s wrong and you are right. Her GCSE Welsh obviously hasn’t stuck.

Bronwen.
Cadwyn isn't a name, it's the Welsh word for chain.

Bronwen is correct.

Haha Cadwyn?! That is certainly not a name. It means chain, like chained up. -wen for girls, -wyn for boys- the swapping around sounds very very odd to Welsh ears.
I once read on here that someone had a Welsh aunt called Olwyn. Olwen is the proper name... That poor woman. Olwyn means wheel.

Lovely name!

Kaitlyn is an americanised form of Caitlín, an irish name. No welsh connection whatsoever other than a faous welshman was married to one. You could make up a version - Cadlyn perhaps - but the -yn makes it look masculine.

It's definitely Bronwen, not Bronwyn. If Bronwyn was a Welsh name it would be masculine due to the wyn.

Welsh wen names are often mispronounced as 'win' rather than 'when'.

Is your friend a Welsh speaker? I work with a Welsh person who doesn't speak Welsh and the way they pronounce Welsh names like Seren, Eira, Osian and Dylan is markedly different to my Welsh speaking family. They're from the same part of Wales, so it's not an accent difference.

@HeadlessGummyBears

Do you mean Anwen? Anwen is Welsh, Arwen is Elvish.

[quote August20]@HeadlessGummyBears

Do you mean Anwen? Anwen is Welsh, Arwen is Elvish.[/quote]
@August20 Apologies, I thought that Arwen was a derivative of Arwyn?

It can be, but it was in LOTR first.

Oh that’s a shame. Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause offense.

It's Bronwen for a girl. Your friend is mistaken, and getting confused by anglicised or American versions

[quote August20]@HeadlessGummyBears

Do you mean Anwen? Anwen is Welsh, Arwen is Elvish.[/quote]
Arwen is Welsh. It means fair, I have a cousin with this name and people always think it's from LOTR and don't know it's Welsh origin.

I know a Bronwen! It’s a lovely name. Hope you use it

Arwyn is a boy's name and Arwen is the girl's name created by changing the -wyn to -wen. It's not much used, but Arwyn is.

The name Arwen was created by JRR Tolkein.

Ar in a name means near, I think, and the -wen bit is white.