Sibling names - are they too similar?

[JobMatch3000]

I have a DD Cerys and am now expected again.

We have another DD name picked but at the moment can only agree on Rhys as a boy.

Is it too similar?

Any other suggestions? I've tried Ryan but (for most boy names) DH is not keen due to football references eg Ryan Giggs.

I was confused until I realised that you meant the "ys " ending. Any chance you'd have a third child? You'd need another ys name if you choose Rhys.

My cousins are called Cerys and Rhys 😊 I've never thought they were too similar (although I'm not Welsh so could be butchering their names) as Cerys is a shorter 'i' sound like 'kerris' and Rhys is a longer 'e' sound like 'reece'. So sound wise all good, and from years of receiving bday and Christmas cards signed from them all as a family, I don't think they even look too similar written down. They are a nice combo!

Zero chance of a third child and yes the pronunciation is like "Kerris" and "Reece".

Maybe the spelling Reece is an option...

I’d go with spelling it Reece as Rhys is the welsh spelling and the correct pronunciation would be like Riss so would be too similar to Cerys.

I think they are both great! Not too close :)

Have you considered Emrys instead? It's trendy again now and so lovely imo . Why not go the whole hog and have them both be 2 syllable too as well as sound alike? Plus then you'd have the meaning "everlasting/immortal" and "love" as a sibset!

But anyway with the English pronunciation of Rhys, I think Cerys and Rhys should be dissimilar enough. I wouldn't spell it Reece though, since your daughter has an obviously Welsh name, anglicizing the spelling personally looks a bit odd to me.

I don't say Rhys as Reece, and neither does anyone else I know apart from a Rhys I know who was born and bred in England and didn't even know the name was Welsh.
The names don't rhyme, but the ys ending is obvious when they are written.
They're OK together but sound like siblings around 60 yrs old.

I think they sound fine.

They sound good together.

Cerys and Rhys rhyme, why would you?

Reuben, Rupert, Reagan, Richard are all great R names.

You can choose a better name than Rhys with Cerys.

Get your husband to choose his favourite twenty names and from those choose any that you also love.
Do you like your grandfathers' names?
Your brothers' names? Your husband's second name?
Your favourite Saint?

Too similar so I think you need to try again, most kids hate to have a matching names with their sibling. I know I did growing up and I'm still not keen on it now.! I come from a culture where it's quite common to give kids matching names. It's bloody embarrassing and definitely not cute!

@Theoldwoman , they don't rhyme.
Cerys is said as Kerris, Rhys is said as How to pronounce Rhys in Welsh | HowToPronounce.com or Reece

the audio isn't great, but to say they rhyme compares to saying that Daniel and Elle rhyme, which don't in English.

@PickledScrump , the Welsh pronunciation of Rhys isn't like Riss.

@KirstenBlest it is where I am from. (North Wales) Although I should have written Rhiss as Rh is a letter in welsh alphabet. Reece is the anglicised version. It sounds very like the ending of Cerys.

You’ve contradicted yourself, yesterday you commented on this post saying “I don't say Rhys as Reece, and neither does anyone else I know apart from a Rhys I know who was born and bred in England and didn't even know the name was Welsh.” Then this morning you have said it is said like Reece.

@PickledScrump , the mancunian Rhys says his name as Reece. The Reece pronunciation is used in Wales, mainly by non-Welsh speakers.

The north walian pronunciation of Rhys doesn't rhyme with piss.
The RH and Y don't have english equivalents.

It does not sound like the ys in Cerys - the y is longer, like the Welsh u sound in hud, or like the y in byd, pys, bys, Prys, crys etc

I know countless north walian Welsh-speaking Rhys is, and have several family members with the name.

@KirstenBlest I’ve noticed you often comment on Welsh baby name threads dictating to people the “correct ways”. Then completely contradict yourself. Thing is even amongst welsh speakers there are many variations to pronounciations. My daughters name for example has different pronounciation often between north and south wales and is often said differently by English speakers.

No Rhys isn’t exactly like riss but it is closer to that for English speakers than Reece is.

@PickledScrump , Welsh is phonetic, so there is usually only one way of saying it, but some names get anglicised.
As I pp,I know dozens of welsh-speakers called Rhys, and they all say it the same way.

It doesn't sound nearer to Riss than to Rees, it sounds like something in between but with a h sound in the R. None of the explanations help if you don't get the long y sound or the rh sound.

Take the name Robert. How do you say it? Robu(r)t , yeah.
Imagine if you got a pile up of posters saying 'You've misspelt it, it's Robbert' or 'It's said as 'Robat' or 'Robet'' , wouldn't you want to correct them.
They might know a Robbert (I do) or they might say Robbet or Robbat- I know a few Robets and a Robat, but that's not really how the name is said, is it.

Deff not too close it's fine!

Where I teach, (Northern England) Rhys is a very popular name. It's always pronounced Reece. We have boys using that spelling too, so if you're in England it doesn't matter which spelling. It's very common as a name, so won't cause problems.

I think it's fine. A friend of my DH has kid ms called Henry and Harry!

Personally I would pronounce cerys like "ke-rizz" so they don't rhyme, in which case it's fine. But if you say "ke-rhys" and "Rhys" then that will be far too confusing.

Any other suggestions? I've tried Ryan but (for most boy names) DH is not keen due to football references eg Ryan Giggs.
Unless your surname's Giggs it's that's a very unlikely connection anyone would make. There are many more Ryan's out there rather than just one retired footballer.

MN has a lot of "Can't use <name X> because of <Y>" comments that are usually very tenuous, and very unlikely to be relevant in 16+ years time.

@KirstenBlest my daughters name is Eira where I am that is said as ay-ra, whereas south wales it’s more commonly said as eye-ra. Both very different pronounciations for the same word. People’s accents also play a big part in how things are said.

You’re example of Robert I know people that say it more as Robbet, but that’s because in their accent burt and bet come out the same way. I wouldn’t say they are saying it wrong at all, it just sounds the same in their accent.

It is accent, but saying Eira as Eye-ra isn't accent. The Ei is hard to say if you don't speak Welsh. The nearest sound is Ay/Ey, but it's shorter.

I guessed your daughter was called Eira. The only name I can think of that is said differently in the north and south is Siwan (s-iwan/shwan). You can get names with regional variations in terms of accent, but you'd get that with most names.

If someone said 'mae'n bwrw eira' they almost certainly wouldn't say 'mine booroo eye-ra' unless they were learners.