Welsh Baby Names Living in London

[QuintillaTortilla]

So DH is Welsh, and I'm technically English (lived overseas for 80% of my life). We live in London now.

He wants to name our little girl a Welsh name, so far he has:
Lleucu
Esyllt
Heledd-Flur
Goleuddydd

Manon and Olwen are my all time favourite Welsh names

I know a very clever and interesting lady named Olwen, and I've loved it ever since I met her.

kianet shortened to Kia is lovely

All would struggle being pronounced correctly without being told - depends if that's a deal breaker for you?

Also think about how it might be pronounced in a London accent... I have a Bethan and where we are gets pronounced Beffan which I find highly irritating

I know a couple of Welsh women, living just over the border into England, called Menna. Love it.

Also love Ffion and Eleri. No issues pronouncing all three, but lovely Welsh names.

Personally I love Lleuclu. I think you should just go for it.

It'll be fine.

They're all very difficult to pronounce. Go with something Welsh but more recognisable in London

Elen
Seren
Megan
Catrin
Bethan
Alys
Elena
Erin
Iona
Nia
Sara

Am interested how to pronounce Lleuclu , I've not come across it.
I wouldn't worry how other people will pronounce the name you chose- most metropolitan schools these days have children and names from all around the globe. As a teacher, I just ask, and get them to correct me if I'm wrong . The other children in the class are only too happy to tell me the correct way to say it.

London kids are used to all sorts of names, and Esyllt in particular is a beautiful name, but honestly I think the English will butcher all of those even if they're trying their hardest. I'd probably butcher them and I've got 3 Welsh grandparents.

Ll is hard for English people to
say I loved both lleucu and Esyllt but my English family would have struggled. Plenty of pronounceable Welsh names.
Buddug was another one I loved but couldn’t use because I’m English.

cadi
mabli
mali
begw
nanw
nansi
efa
non
haf

That's not Welsh. There is no K in the Welsh alphabet

Siani
Sionnned
Rhiannon

Myfi

Also interested in how to pronounce Lleuclu.

I have a popular welsh girls name and it’s often misspelt or pronounced.

My lovely Welsh godmother was called Eirlys. I believe it means "Snowdrop."

Aeronwy

Rhiannon
Carys

Not Blod!

She'll spend half her life explaining it's not Miffy. Pronounced Muvey.

Lleucu - lovely
Esyllt - lovely
Heledd-Flur - misspelt and hyphenate names are naff. Heledd and Fflur are fine
Goleuddydd - is it a name? Looks like Golau and Dydd tacked together and means 'Light of day'

I think your DH is pulling your leg. Those names will mean almost constant correcting or putting up with misspelling and mispronunciation.

Blod is blimmin awful, and if your DH is welsh he won't want to use Blodwyn as the spelling is Blodwen. The - wyn ending is masculine.

Gwen is fine.

@CornishTiger , the c is like k in English. The other letters do not have equivalent sounds in English. The easiest way to try to say it is 'Lucy'

Sioned only has one n.
Lleucu has been misspelt on this thread by more than one poster.
@DelphiniumBlue , Lleucu pronunciation: How to pronounce Lleucu in Welsh (forvo.com)

Esyllt is my favourite name but the Ll will be butchered. It would be mispronounced as Ess-ilt.

Most welsh names will have pronunciation issues IME (my name is simple but oft mispronounced) but some names are more likely to be butchered e.g. Lleucu or Buddug.

I would go for something like:

Nia
Mali
Mabli
Eira
Nansi
Alys
Cadi
Catrin
Efa
Anest
Mari
Tesni

London's very multicultural, lots of people have names from all over the world here but DH's list are all names that people will find trickier compared to other Welsh names.

I’ve seen a lot of people recommend Eira, I have an Eira and still have the pronounciation problems. Even in wales there’s an ay-ra vs eye-ra divide. Plus people often mishear it for Ava. I still absolutely love it and doesn’t bother me at all but may bother some.

I'd double the n in Anest to get Annest, or it might get said as Anussed.

Most Welsh names will sound a bit different when said by someone who doesn't speak Welsh, but it depends on whether you/DD mind.
I wouldn't like to be called Beffun or Ree-un, but might not be too annoyed if someone said Marie for Mari.

A relation in almost exactly your position has Betsan and Idris so the English contingent stand a chance.

London is the most multicultural city in the UK. It’s inhabitants will manage just fine with Welsh names.

I’d perhaps be less confident of the inhabitants of somewhere in Dorset managing them though.