Seren - outside of Wales?

[OctopusFTM]

What are people’s thoughts on Seren?
My DH is Welsh, but we live in England.

I don’t really understand the people saying you can’t name a child Seren because you wouldn’t call a child Star in English. There are lots of common Welsh names which directly translate into an English word most wouldn’t use as a name, Eg:
Gwyn - White
Enfys - Rainbow
Bryn - Hill
It doesn’t mean you can’t use the Welsh name, there are English names which are also words (Eg: Poppy, River, Clementine, Lily, Hunter, Joy, April, Cliff, Olive, Dale) which won’t always directly translate into a usable name in other languages.

I think Seren is a lovely name, like most names it don’t be pronounced the same in every accent but it isn’t one I think people would have trouble with in England and indeed I have met a couple here before.

I think it's lovely.

@KirstenBlest

Nice name for a pony. Would you name a child Star?

What a ridiculous statement?? Most names have another meaning in another country. I’m not in my native country and in this country my children’s names translate to Christmas, field and pure.

It gets mentioned on Mumsnet a LOT and is always followed by (star in Welsh) as if any of us could still be unaware of that by now!!
I think it’s quite nice but it’s not a traditional welsh name as I understand it, so will be a bit faddy.

It is fine, very well-known/mainstream and I think the days when a Welsh name was deemed notable are gone surely?

My DH has a non-English name and no one has had an aneurism so far when he has introduced himself.

I really like it. Not Welsh and would pronounce it Ser - ren

@Winniemarysarah, it is a popular name for a pony in Wales so not a ridiculous comment.

I hadn’t thought about people finding the meaning weird, just because I figured all names have a meaning so didn’t think much of it. I suppose to Welsh speakers it’s maybe a little odd.
I’d love for her to have a more traditional welsh name but I’m not sure I want her to have a lifetime of misspelling and mispronunciation. Her grandmother is Eirlys which I love, but it’s never pronounced correctly here.

@OctopusFTM

I hadn’t thought about people finding the meaning weird, just because I figured all names have a meaning so didn’t think much of it. I suppose to Welsh speakers it’s maybe a little odd. I’d love for her to have a more traditional welsh name but I’m not sure I want her to have a lifetime of misspelling and mispronunciation. Her grandmother is Eirlys which I love, but it’s never pronounced correctly here.

I think you should choose what you want. I work somewhere very international and people have all sorts of names. My DH has to help people with his name but it doesn't matter. We can't all be Sophie and Oliver!

[quote KirstenBlest]@Winniemarysarah, it is a popular name for a pony in Wales so not a ridiculous comment.[/quote]
That’s clearly not the point you were trying to make in your post. And this statement is even more ridiculous considering in England, Alfie, Archie and Charlie feature in the top 15 names of both baby’s and dogs. Just because it’s popular for a pet, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be used for humans.

Beautiful classic Welsh name but then I have a Dafydd.

Choose what you want @OctopusFTM. I'm not keen on it because it is a new name and is just the word for star.
Lleuad would be a strange name but Luna is popular.

At least people will be able to say it.

I think it's a really beautiful name

I think it's a beautiful name. I think it's easy to say and wouldn't be concerned if it was pronounced with 'ren', 'run' or 'run' at the end.

It's lovely.

I know a Seren, she is not Welsh. Her name is Serenity, she goes by Seren for short. I think it is lovely.

@CaffiSaliMali

It will be mispronounced as Serrun. Generally any Welsh name ending in 'en' or 'an' will be mispronounced as 'un'.

So bear that in mind - my Mam failed to predict the mispronunciation of my Welsh name in England and it annoys her no end. So think about whether it will bother you or not.

I so wish I'd considered this before choosing our name. It's perfectly phonetic but Welsh and English people say Betsun and it makes my toes curl.

I'm Welsh in Wales (with an English DH) and 2 of my 11 yo dds classmates are Seren so I don't think it is equivalent to Star because it's a much more established name. As others have said it I much more equivalent to Lily or something like that. I've always liked it because I think of it as a welsh name that's easy to pronounce for anyone.

Yes you might get a bit of variation between 'en' and 'un' at the end but that slight variation in emphasis happens with most names in different accents, so as long as it wouldn't bother you I don't see it matters. In fact I'd say I hear the girls we know called both but I've never even noticed the difference until thinking about it now.
I don't think it would date quickly - it's been popular for me long time here, and anyway I don't think you can really predict that with a name, who knows?

I think it’s a really beautiful name. 😊

Love it. Think it means star

@pompomsgalore - yeah, my name is pronounced wrongly more often than not and my Mam, all her family and my DH and his family cringe for me.

I used to hate parents evening as my Mam kept correcting my teachers when they got it wrong

I always like meeting Welsh people at work - bonded with a Hefin, an Angharad, a Sian and a Geraint over the dodgy ways people mangled our names!

It doesn't bother me when people mispronounce it though, it's always been my norm so no idea what it's like to have a name everyone says properly! Hopefully it doesn't bother your Betsan either (beautiful name btw).

I absolutely love it!

@NigellaSeed

Love it. Think it means star

Do you really think so?

Im English and haven’t come across the name. My first guess at pronouncing would be seren rhyming with seven or maybe se-reen as start of Serena.

I’ve just googled how to pronounce and would never have guessed the YouTube version I found. However there are lots of new names and I’d learn. It’s just a question of how bothered someone is having to spell out. Maybe avoid if you have a long or unusual surname.

I think it's beautiful.