Would it be wrong?

[RebeccaN8]

To give baby a Welsh name if not from Wales?

One name that OH is on board with from our list is a popular Welsh name but having checked the statistics for Northern Ireland there has never been a child with this name which I find strange.

I do like an uncommon name so it's makes me want to go for it if there are no others of this name...another on our list I love is an Irish name which is top 5 which puts me off as my other children have unusual names

I think it depends on the name. A name like Carys would be fine. I would avoid one like Llinos outside Wales.

Agree with pp, it depends on the name.

Its Ffion....

Quite similar to the Irish name we like which is Fiadh (Fee-ah)

Hmm. We loved Hamish and Gregor but decided as we had not a drip of Scottish blood between us, a Scottish name would be inappropriate.

Honestly?
yes I think it would look odd to use Ffion if not Welsh.

But it is a nice name. Better a nice name which is not your culture than a horrible name !

I'd say it's perfectly OK. Nice name.

I reckon Ffion would be fine,pronunciation should be straightforward for native English speakers.

Well … its up to you, of course.

But being quizzed about your name ‘where’s that from / oh, are your parents Welsh / oh? They just liked the name’ does get a bit exhausting and irritating.

Ffion gets a lot of love on here though - it always looks like a stammer to me, as if it should be pronounced ‘Fuh-Fion’!

Ffion is a beautiful name, and I think it's well known and easy to pronounce outside of Wales, so I'd go for it.

@PostMenPatWithACat

Hmm. We loved Hamish and Gregor but decided as we had not a drip of Scottish blood between us, a Scottish name would be inappropriate.

My family (irish) in Ireland all have Scottish names. No idea why, a custom that we rolled with, three generations in! Not scottish. Nobody's ever commented that it's weird.

Unless it has 17 letters Yanbu.
Personally imo it sounds like Theon with bad pronunciation...

People in Ireland might mistake ffion for fionn, that's the only issue I can see.

Go for it, it’s easy enough to pronounce. One of ours ended up with a Greek name (spoiler, we’re not Greek), I don’t think it’s that unusual.

I wouldn't. Having a Welsh name in England is hard enough, but when your family is not from Wales it's just unnecessary grief.

My friends daughter is Ffion, she gets called Fi, by friends Might as well have called her Fiona & had less hassle!

Would you consider Fiona?

I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong, but I would presume a baby Ffion had Welsh parents. It’s like, if you named your child Isla I wouldn’t immediately presume you were Scottish, but if you named your child Eilidh I would expect you to be Scottish.

That’s a pretty name and it would work in any culture & language.

I think it's fine. Just because a name originates somewhere doesn't mean it can only be used there.

No, it's fine.

It’s a pretty name but for example in Ireland no one would have any idea how to spell it and pronounce it. People would say “Fionn”
Do you mind me asking - why do parents give their kids unusual names? I’m only asking cos I’m curious:) not to say that these names aren’t pretty cos they are! it’s hard having to spell your name all your life on every doctor visit, every phone call etc. I’m not Irish but been living here 15 years and before I got married I had to spell my name and surname every single day… since I’m married it’s only my name that I have to spell and god it’s so much easier now!:) but still painful sometimes. Having an unusual name is lovely until you go to school/work and spend half a day every day answering questions like “oh how do you spell that?” “Oh where is your name from?” “Oh how do you proximate your name”? Etc

Ffion is lovely. Use it.

I'm generally of the camp that I find it strange when people give children names that are very obviously of another culture/country if they have no connection. There are some that have crossed over so are less obvious, e.g. calling your child Francesca if you're not Italian; and others that haven't so it just seems a bit pretentious/trying hard to be unique, such as calling your kid Valentino, I'd put Ffion in the latter camp.

Fiona with option Fia or Ffion for short is a good idea.

I would use a spanish, french, italian, welsh, dutch, scottish name but i would probably not use a japanese, chinese, indian, african name. I would feel there was an element of appropriation there that doesnt apply in the same way to using any other white european name. But people do feel differently about this!

You could use Sofia and have Fia as her nickname? X

It's perfectly fine to do so and it is a lovely name, loads of people have used Niamh with no Irish connection. It would be so boring if people just stuck with the same names all the time.

Sorry to show my ignorance, but how is it pronounced? When I first saw the name I was confused as my Irish friend has a Fionn, I presumed it was just a different spelling of the same name!