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Eleri baby name meaning

13 replies

Thehundredthnamechange · 06/04/2022 19:28

I love this name, but I can't find a reliable background for it. Can anyone confirm to me the meaning? Googled but the websites seem fairly unreliable.

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Luredbyapomegranate · 06/04/2022 20:46

It’s Welsh I am pretty sure.

It’s nice but she’ll likely end up one of a million Ellies.

toastofthetown · 06/04/2022 20:57

I can't speak specifically to Eleri, but I generally find Behind the Name a reliable resource.

kitcat15 · 06/04/2022 21:03

There's a lady called this ( I'm guessing she's early 40s) at a group i attend

SeanChailleach · 06/04/2022 22:24

Oh, that's intriguing.

The pronunciation is "el-AIR-ee". It is a little like Hilary or Ilaria, meaning happiness. But not very like.

It just sounds pretty.

Frazzled2207 · 06/04/2022 22:28

It’s nice.
But one issue with this Welsh name is English people tend to pronounce like Ellory with emphasis on first syllable. Not correct.

It’s not quite ell-AIR-ee as pp said

The middle syllable is shorter but stressed.
el-EH-ree

CaffiSaliMali · 07/04/2022 08:39

It can sound a bit like El-airy to rhyme with fairy in some Welsh accents. My family are from north Wales and say El-erry (to rhyme with Terry and Kerry).

It's a nice name but will be mispronounced to rhyme with celery.

DacwMamYnDwad · 07/04/2022 09:26

It's the welsh form of Hilary

Rhymes with Kerry, doesn't rhyme with fairy.

DacwMamYnDwad · 07/04/2022 09:32

It usually shortens to Ler not Ellie. You hardly say the E so it's more like
'Lerry

Heartofglass12345 · 07/04/2022 20:39

I'm from South Wales and know people who pronounce it Elairy but as pp have said it should be Elehri. But you can pronounce it how you want, and I think Elairy sounds quite nice.
Even in wales most people don't pronounce welsh names right unless they went to a welsh school lol

user1469770863 · 07/04/2022 20:45

I'm welsh and a welsh speaker. Eleri is a very pretty name, not too common in babies / very young children these days but as PP have said, proper pronunciation is el- EH-ree. ( not ELL-er-ee). a lovely middle name would be Gwen, or Sian ... especially with a two syllable surname.

MythicalBiologicalFennel · 07/04/2022 20:52

Very common where I am among women in their 40s. Like pp says usually shortened to 'Leri. Agree it is pretty, and relatively easy to pronounce. Baffled at the pp who thinks you need years of Welsh-medium education to get your head and tongue around four sounds that exist in most languages Grin

DacwMamYnDwad · 08/04/2022 12:54

@MythicalBiologicalFennel Baffled at the pp who thinks you need years of Welsh-medium education to get your head and tongue around four sounds that exist in most languages

If that was aimed at me, it's because unless you speak Welsh fluently, many of the sounds do not exist in English. Similarly the 'ai' sound in words like fair, hair, air doesn't exist in Welsh, although you might hear it in a minority of regional welsh accents. In such an accent Ceri sound a bt like Carey

There are many delightful welsh girl's names that sound quite plain or ugly in an anglicised pronunciation. Enid, Eira, Einir and Meinir might be examples. Einir is the welsh form of Honor, IIRC

Posters on here will offer suggested pronunciations - the worst one I've seen was Briallen - the poster said it was Bree-ach-en, ch as in scottish loch! Shock I've also seen Gwenchi as a name suggestion - awful

mads2750 · 08/04/2022 13:10

I've got a 2 year old Eleri - as people said, it rhymes with Kerry not fairy or celery (live in England so had to train the nursery staff how to say it - just told them to call her Leri and that worked!) There's a river Leri near Aberystwyth where my husband is from, and the daughter of an ancient welsh king was Eleri too, but I just really liked the sound of it.

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