Nearly there…Seren

[grosgirl]

I’ve posted before and got some amazing advice. DH and I have a DS called Julian and are due a girl in a couple of months: initially, the one and only name I really liked was Grace but DH was very resistant.

I also quite like Edith, Annabel and Eira.
DH has suggested Elizabeth, Catherine and Constance (nn Connie)

We have a 3 syllable surname.

DH is Welsh, although we live in London and won’t be moving to Wales at any time in the future, and when I was pregnant with Julian, Seren was on our list. We’ve since discounted it because we wouldn’t name a DD ‘Star’ in English…but if we’re never going to live in Wales, it’s not really the same is it? I love the way it sounds and prefer names that don’t end in ‘a’ sounds because they can sound quite ‘common’ in my rather unpleasant Thames Estuary accent.

What do you think? Any and all suggestions welcome!

Seren is popular in Wales and is said as SERR-enn not Serrun, and it is the word for star, so IMO is naff.
I'd cross Eira off the list as people will say Ira or Ay-ruh.

Catherine, Elizabeth and Constance are all OK.
Not keen on Annabel - too many Isabel(les)s and Isabellas.
I can't see any appeal in the name Edith.
Grace is too popular as a middle name.

I'd pick a welsh girl's name and use it as a middle name.

I quote like seren as I'm English and have never heard of it. I highly doubt it will be seen as naff here just unusual but not in a stupid way.

I know a baby Seren (in England). I thought it’s a lovely name

I really love Seren too

I think it's a beautiful name.(I'm not Welsh, I'm a Londoner if that makes a difference). I was aware it's a Welsh name.

This is what I was going for whenwill! Unusual but not in a pretentious or absurd way.

Do we all think Julian and Seren sound okay together?

Really reassuring boots, toasted and spidey. Thanks!

Eira and Seren are both nouns and are equivalent to calling your child Snow or Star. Both are fairly new names - Eira tended to be used for baby girls born in winter or when it is was snowing.

If you are looking at Welsh Baby Names sites, be aware that some of them have dodgy entries. Names ending in -wyn or -yn tend to be for boys, not girls. Names ending in -wen, -en, and -an tend to be for girls.

I love it and would have named ds it 10 years ago had he been born a girl.
We're not Welsh but my nan was.
My eldest ds has a Welsh name too.

Thanks @DacwMamYnDwad I haven’t looked at any Welsh name sites but knew of Seren from my time living in Wales for uni and visits to DH’s family.

The reason I’m slightly conflicted is because I wouldn’t name my child star in English but I do love the sound of Seren and would be counting on what previous posters have said: that English folk are maybe aware of the fact it’s a Welsh name but don’t see it as her being called ‘star’.

Thanks Amber! Like you, I thought it was a nice nod to her family links to Wales.

Do you mind me asking what you called your son? Just wondering!

@DacwMamYnDwad

How should you Eira be pronounced?
I'm not Welsh but moved here as a child and in school it sounded like Ayreh to my English ear.

I don’t like Seren at all as a name. It feels awkward, ugly and clunky to me. My favourite names from your list are Eira and Elizabeth. Eira is lovely, but there will be ambiguous pronunciation as it’s a Scandi name as well as a Welsh one (and the Norwegian and Swedish pronunciations differ). I find Forvo a great resource to hear names/words pronounced in different languages. Elizabeth is a classic, and many diminutives don’t have the -a ending you want to avoid.

I like Seren, but agree with pp it should really be Serr-en not Serrun, which if you’re in England might be the pronunciation used?

I’m not sure about Julian (very English sounding to me) and Seren (Welsh) together but that could just be me and once they’re here it will probably sound just fine.

If it's good enough for Tom & Natasha Archer ...
Or alternatively Nova?

I'm not sure what the issue is with it meaning 'star'. Almost every non-made up name has a meaning of some kind, some pretty obvious in English (e.g. Rose) and no one generally thinks it's naff. I'd say Star is quite a nice association to have with your name!

I'm not sure what the issue is with it meaning 'star'. Almost every non-made up name has a meaning of some kind, some pretty obvious in English (e.g. Rose) and no one generally thinks it's naff. I'd say Star is quite a nice association to have with your name!

I have a Serena, so when I see Seren, it just looks a bit odd to me! Lovely name though.

I'm biased, and I admit this, but I loved the name Seren so much... that I named my (male, yep; know it's a female name!) dog thus. And then, when he was 13 and dying, an old school friend's wife was expecting a daughter (their second) and they decided to call her Seren. Possibly after my much-mentioned, beloved hound... but more likely because it's a beautiful name. I'm mostly Welsh, they're not - and we live in Surrey!

I already had a completed family, and our dog was meant to be female so I'd allowed my 9 year old (at the time) to name it... but the puppy who bonded with my then-1 year old was male, yet my oldest had set her heart on Seren for its name...

If Seren was on your list for the first baby... and you both approved it... use it for your first daughter! It goes well with Julian. Don't think so much about the meaning behind the name. My name translates as "light", my daughter's as "pure" and my son's...? "God's gift to mankind". We're all anything but what our names translate as!

I think Seren is lovely and goes ok with Julian.

I know old lady names are having a revival but I don't like Edith.

Of the others, Constance would be my fave but if you love Seren, just go for it!

@QuietYou , Eira.
It's like EY-ra (Ey like in Hey! not Hay, and ra like in rat, not ruh). It doesn't really sound like Ava with an r instead of a v.

I'm not keen on Seren and would put it in the same category as Karen and Lauren.

I think Seren is lovely. I first came across it about 12 years ago as a friend's little daughter was called Seren (not Welsh), and then there was a cute bat called Seren on a Cbeebies show -abadas I think.
There are so many names that mean a word in another language, I think it is fine.

@ReindeerGames , it doesn't mean star, it's the actual word star.

Catherine Grace.

Beautiful!

It's a lovely name