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!

If you like Erin then Elin may also appeal as another Welsh option?

I think i'd be a bit confused to hear of a Julian and a Seren. Seren is super popular and Welsh, whereas Julian is quite unusual and has a very posh English vibe. I know that names don't need to 'go', but I think Julian and Seren don't 'go' at all, to the point where it might seem a bit noticeable that they're totally different styles.

I think you're husband's names, and Edith and Annabel from your list, also 'go' well with Julian. (I feel Eira is the same as Seren when it comes to really not going with Julian). Catherine (nn Kitty), Constance (nn Connie) go particularly well, I think.

I think Eira and Seren are both lovely names.

I've always liked Eira - but this thread now has me confused over the pronunciation! I can't work out the difference in pronunciation between hey and hay 🤷‍♀️. Both identical in my (Scottish) accent. I assumed Eira was pronounced Ay-ra with the ay pronounced as in hay. Same as the start of the Scottish name Eilidh.

Seren is lovely.

@QuietYou , imagine calling out Hey you! or something. It's sort of like the difference between Eye and Aye. I'd say Isla is Eye-la but not Aye-la.

Well guessed @Johnnysgirl.My 2 DC are called Siardonê and Safanna. Needed to welshify the names. Everyone tells us how lovely and unusual the names are.

I would sort of pronounce it Ay-uh-ra, but the middle uh sound is really short. The r is also a bit different in a Welsh accent. The best YouTube video I can find with the pronunciation I would use is here: (need to scroll about 35 secs in)

That said I imagine like lots of words it will be different by accent, maybe someone else from another part of Wales will come along and say they completely disagree!

@pitterypattery00 yes I'm Scottish too and my daughter is Eira, pronounced Ay-ra. Hey and hay are exactly the same word for me! You're saying the name correctly with a Scottish accent!

Seren is a beautiful name. Lots of Welsh people use it to their daughters. See also Enfys which is word for Rainbow 🌈. I know lots of little Ones called Enfys because I work in a specialist birth unit for women who have had recurrent miscarriages and we have a lot of Welsh ladies. So their rainbow baby is called Enfys or Rainbow 🌈 it's not any less special because it's popular or is the actual name for a rainbow in Welsh

Thanks @Scottishgirl85 and @MolkosTeenageAngst.

I've now seen the post by @DacwMamYnDwad saying the difference between aye and eye - also identical to me!

(Accents are great things! My English partner pronounces pull and pool differently - whereas to me they are identical. Whereas poor and pour are the same to him, totally different for me!)

My DD has one of the names you hate and Seren as a middle name (DD and I are Welsh). She loves her name!

Perhaps we should have gone with Cassiopeia after all.

It's definitely not Ay-uh-ra, @MolkosTeenageAngst .

@OverTheHillAndDownTotherSide , I didn't say I hated any of the names!

@DacwMamYnDwad I think you said that you can’t see any appeal in the name Edith, which happens to be my middle name as I’m named after my great-grandmother 😂 No offence taken though haha!

@grosgirl , I didn't say I hated it. I don't hate it - it's rather nice as a French name. I can see the appeal in using a relative's name as a middle name as it has a special meaning, and IMO it's better than using a filler middle name.

Oh no, I know you didn’t say you hated it! Anyway, I’ve just much appreciated your input on the thread re. pronunciations etc. Thank you.

I know it’s not, I’m just not sure how else to write out the ei sound phonetically as I would say it in English as there is kind of an extra half syllable between the ay and ra. Although not sure Ay and ra are right either tbh!

Can listen to Eira pronunciation here:
www.bbc.co.uk/wales/livinginwales/sites/howdoisay/names/index.shtml?e

Like Stella then?

Seren in nice and I really like sienna ?

Seren is so lovely. I've loved it ever since Abadas on cbeebies circa 2011-2014.

I wanted Bethan but we went with something slightly different. Love Sarah too, so classic.
I didn't want a name ending with -a either, our shortlist was:
Lois
Romilly
Penny
Bethan
Erin

My ds has a Seren in his class - I like it.

There was a girl at my school called serendipity (happy mistake) known as Seren

Natasha (Welsh and living in England) and Tom on the Archers have just had twins and named one Seren, I like it. I also like Constance

I like Seren and Edith and Erin

What's the other twin called, @RewildingAmbridge ?

The other twin has the awful name Nova.

They had thought it was a boy so had picked a Welsh name that I can't recall but were surprised with another girl.