Help with Welsh Baby Boy Names - Final three

[MintGreenLife]

Due in 7 weeks and know we are having a boy. DH is Welsh so going for a Welsh name, and we both have Celtic names anyway.

Shortlist is:

Ellis
Ifor
Harri

For ages I was fairly certain we were going to go for Ellis, but now I’m worrying I say it with a slight lisp, even though I don’t have a lisp! I love Ifor but only reservation is our surname, which when put together with Ifor ends up being the name of a trailer brand...but then maybe not that many people would be familiar with it?! Harri is sweet but I think perhaps too popular for our liking when you think most people will assume it’s Harry/there may we’ll be lots of Harry’s his age. Thoughts?!

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but I love the name Gethin!

I like Iolo ioLo not LOLO used to ride a pony with this Welsh boy name.

@CalonGaled

Ah,I get you. That's accent.

I'd say it like the to in tom.

Got Trebor Edwards earworm now. Un dydd ar y tro

I like Elis the most. Harri is nice too but Harry and Henry are so popular at the moment which puts me off (may not bother you of course). The other thing which puts me off is that it may look like a 'youneeq' spelling of Harry. Which is silly really as I like Alys, Mari and Tomos and am well practiced at a politely disdainful 'actually it's Welsh' cultivated from having a Welsh name in England.

IME people really struggle with the Welsh F and Ff. I worked with a Hefin years ago who everyone called Heffin or Heff, didn't seem to matter how many times Hefin explained 'Hev-in'. So for that reason I would avoid Ifor.

Macsen, Osian and Tomos are my 3 top picks for boys names. I'm also partial to Ioan but can't use it, and Iago but Othello has ruined it. I like Emrys and Emlyn too.

I missed a trick there. Here's the lovely for you.

I’m not a fan of Ifor but I like Elis, agree it should be one L, LL is a different letter and sound in welsh

Harri is nice but if you’re not in wakes people will assume it’s just a weird spelling unfortunately

It fills my heart with joy to see Trebor Edwards on mn.

Ian-Tô may be a better way to write it in Welsh, but in terms of pronunciation for an English speaker I’m not a phonetics expert so trying my best. I’ve never heard it pronounced with a hard to as one top, tbh

Ian-Tô would be EE-ann Toe, which doesn't really work.

Dropping the hyphen would help, only I have never heard Ianto said like that. Iolo has the same sound for both the first and second o.

I had all girls but if we had had a boy , we would have called him Gryffydd (Griff/ Gryff) or even Griffyn. I like El(l)is on your list.

Ifor Williams is a lovely name. We would say Eye-Vor and roll the r at the end here like in Ifor the Engine. You may be too young to remember??? (it must be on YouTube somewhere).
Your boy might have Dragons in his firebox

@Ritasueandbobtoo9 yeah Ifor the engine isn’t something I’m familiar with! I think I’m back to Elis as the favourite ☺️

I’ve just watched Ifor the engine and am blissfully happy now so thank you for bringing the warmest memory to my heart. They spell it the English way and don’t roll the r but everyone where I am pronounced like in the programme which is based in Merionethshire.

I think Elis is a mouthful with Williams . Rhys pronounced with a Rolled R, Reece would be perhaps nicer to the ear.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

I think Elis is a mouthful with Williams . Rhys pronounced with a Rolled R, Reece would be perhaps nicer to the ear.

Rhys Williams plays for Liverpool 👍🏻

My husband wouldn’t let me use Ifor or Ivor because of Ivor Biggun…🤷‍♀️😂

Captainj1 😂😂😂

Rhys was high up my list but dh just could not say it properly
There are very very few welsh names that cause no pronunciation problems in England. I have one myself and it has only ever been pronounced properly by the welsh half of my family. I gave up caring years ago.

Gethin does occasionally get pronounced Geffen by other children but ime most English adults have met enough Gethin's to be able to grasp it. Our elderly neighbour says Gethlyn despite me writing Gethin in his xmas card every year! The family shorten it to Geth which is totally fine.

Oh I love Gethin - pick that name OP!

(Although my love of it might have something to do with the lovely Mr Jones)

@Frazzled2207

Rhys was high up my list but dh just could not say it properly There are very very few welsh names that cause no pronunciation problems in England. I have one myself and it has only ever been pronounced properly by the welsh half of my family. I gave up caring years ago.

That's just sad. Names like Rhys and Gethin are so easy!

I'm a Welsh learner and I find the letter Rh difficult. I just can't pronounce Rhys like my native Welsh speaking relatives can, it always just sounds like Reece when I say it

I'm ok with Ph, Ng, Ll etc. I just seem to have a stumbling block with Rh for some reason.

Rhys isn't easy if you want the Welsh pronunciation. I don't like the Rees/Reece version but love the name. There is no R in it and no ee. ]
I wouldn't use Rhys if I lived outside Wales because I don't feel Rhys (Rees) and Rhys (Rhys) are the same. Maybe I'm a 'Welsh name snob' but they seem like different name - one a solid traditional name and the other more a trendy hipster sort of name. That's my thoughts on most Welsh names.

@CalonGaled

Rhys isn't easy if you want the Welsh pronunciation. I don't like the Rees/Reece version but love the name. There is no R in it and no ee. ] I wouldn't use Rhys if I lived outside Wales because I don't feel Rhys (Rees) and Rhys (Rhys) are the same. Maybe I'm a 'Welsh name snob' but they seem like different name - one a solid traditional name and the other more a trendy hipster sort of name. That's my thoughts on most Welsh names.

I'm a Welsh name snob... I live in England and called my son Rhys.

You're absolutely right, it's never pronounced correctly and is almost always spelled incorrectly.

It grates on me that people will think he has a trendy hipster name and not a lovely Welsh name. I would choose a different one if I could and being unusual would be a blessing as people would have to ask how to pronounce rather than assume and get it wrong!!!

@orangejuicer

Gethin is ok (though English can't do a hard /i/ sound without stressing the syllable) but I disagree about Rhys. I really wanted it but husband just couldn't do the proper /rh/. Yet to find an English person who can. He would invariably have just been called Reese which I didn't want.

Definitely Elis. Lovely name.

Ifor will be forever correcting people that it's not if-or
And Harri, sorry, looks like an awkward mispelling of Harry to me (non Welsh!)