Eirabelle vs Arabelle

[leanne2389]

Hi all I’d love to get some opinions on the names Eirabelle (Eirabel) vs Arabelle (Arabel) we are Welsh and baby was born 27.12 with Eira pronounced EyeRa and being the welsh word for Snow. I’m currently feeling the pressure to give her a name but am really unsure so would love some extra thoughts.

@Alfixn. I know nothing about Welsh so it's very interesting to me that the name of our country is so close to the Welsh word for snow!

It is probably just coincidence that they look similar written down. Hurt in Welsh doesn't mean hurt in English

Eirabelle is just weird because the belle bit pronounced as Welsh would be behLLeh (LL is a separate letter and not two Ls)

@RockinHorseShit, Eirabel would be pronounce Ey-RAB-el so wouldn't work. The stress in Welsh is always on the penultimate syllable.

You'd need to write it as Eirabél, and such accents aren't normally used.

I had a relative called EyeRa (spelt eira) she was welsh
I think the belle on the end is a bit much tbh but a snowy name for a December baby is gorgeous
Congrats on the new
Arrival btw

@DacwMamYnDwad yes Eira and Eire definitely a coincidence, but interesting!

Re hurt and hurt, there's a similar example with the word 'teach' in English, as in what teachers do, and the word 'teach' in Irish, pronounced 'chock', meaning house. All coincidental similar but unrelated words.

Languages are fascinating!

Eirabelle sounds like an Irish princess to me!

Now I know it means Snow-belle, I'm afraid I think of that as a cat's name.

What about Enfys? (Rainbow)

I think Arabella has become quite popular recently, but I'd prefer it to Arabel (which to me is the nemesis from an Enid Blyton story of my childhood!)

@batmanladybird, your relative probably wasn't a Welsh speaker

And that's a very good point about the double l in Welsh, ll is pronounced completely differently to English double l @DacwMamYnDwad

May I ask what Welsh 'hurt' means?

I think that Eira is very pretty.
Congratulations on your new arrival, op.
A Christmas baby is lovely.

Eira is gorgeous, I'd definitely go for that over Eirabelle.

Now I'm interested in the two different pronunciations and where they are spoken in Wales. Surely if there is a region where eye-ra is more common then it is a valid pronunciation, but it's useful for the OP to bear in mind that other Welsh speakers may (vehemently) disagree.
There's a similar problem with the Irish name Caoimhe - big dispute on here several times about whether 'keeva' or 'kweeva' is more correct, when they're obviously both fine and just differ depending on where you come from in Ireland.

@haba, ridiculous, foolish, stupid

@RuleOfCat, the eye-ra pronunciation is an anglicised way of saying it because the EI diphthong isn't easy to say unless you have grown up saying it. It isn't Ey as in They but it's close.

You wouldn't get a fluent welsh speaker referring to snow as eye-ra regardless of region, as I pp, it would need to be written as aira, which isn't a word

@RuleOfCat, @leanne2389, @DropYourSword if I insisted that in some parts of England Ava was pronunced Eye-va, you'd probably think I was batshit but it compares to those insisting that the word for snow is pronounced eye-ra

I am in mid Wales and have heard eira pronounced both ways because, you know, different Welsh accents.

The interesting thing about the name Eira is that it is also a Scandinavian name (where I first heard it) derived from Eir, the Norse Goddess of healing and medicine. Many Norwegians would (correctly) pronounce it Eye-ra. So rather than being incorrect, maybe the Eye-ras people know are Norwegian or Norwegian-descended.

@Lostinafield

I am in mid Wales and have heard eira pronounced both ways because, you know, different Welsh accents.

It really isn't about accents. I can only assume that you don't speak Welsh

Just call her Eira, Eirabelle sounds made-up and Disney.

Could you go for Eira as a first name and Belle as the middle name?

@DacwMamYnDwad I absolutely do speak Welsh, thanks. I also studied part of a module in linguistics through the medium of Welsh at university.

Yeah right but you tthink eira is pronounced aira in some Hmm.

Eira

Sorry I can't stand Eirabel... But Eira is wonderful

Arabelle is lovely

Eirabelle looks odd to my (Welsh speaking) mind. After the Eira I want to pronounce the ll as the Welsh letter "ll".

If you like Eira what about Eirwen, Eirian or Eiry? All are actual Welsh names. I've never heard of Eirabelle.

My mother was a Welsh speaker (first language, South East Wales) and knew many Eiras. She pronounced it Eye-ra.
.

@DacwMamYnDwad

Yeah right but you tthink eira is pronounced aira in some Hmm.

Yes, in a North Walian accent. Same as ei meaning his or her can sound more like "eye" in a Gog accent. But I shan't engage further on this thread as you are upsetting me unnecessarily.

Yeah perhaps we should accept the nuances of dialect and move on.

Eirabelle just doesn't work no matter how it's pronounced. IMHO.

It isn't about accents though. Op can call her dc anything she likes but if she pronounces Eira as Ayra, it's not the same name any more. (If that makes any sense!)

@Lostinafield, it does not sound like Eye-ra in North Walian Welsh.

Neither does ei, meaning his or her.

It really doesn't.

As I pp, it's like you are arguing that Ava is pronounced Eyeva in some dialects/accents. It isn't.