Eira or Teifi?

[CarrotCrusader]

Eira pronounced Eye-rah or Ay-rah or Teifa pronounced Tie-vee. Both Welsh names.

Not heard either before. Both lovely. Which flows best with the surname?

Teifi will get teyfee a lot I would imagine but it's the prettiest written down.

Eira but both are really nice.

Eira but to me eye-ra is wrong
Ay-ra with a rolled r (Welsh)

Eira is prettier because it means snow, whereas Teifi just makes me think "River Teifi"!

A big fan of Cardigan?

pretty names but they will always be pronounced (and spelt) incorrectly or shortened.

Whereabouts do you live? Presumably not Aberteifi 🙂

I would expect these to be pronounced AY-ra and TAY-vee in Wales, where I live anyway. Teifi is a lovely word but does it exist as a name or is it a bit like calling a baby Thames?

I like Eira, but maybe that's because I know one (eye-ra), and she's lovely.

Ear-ra and Teff-ee

If you are in England - be prepared to continually correct English folk and for your kid’s teachers to always get it wrong too, especially in secondary school when they’ll have at least 10 different teachers.

Neither, nobody will ever be able to pronounce them.

Eira is a beautiful name

I love Teifi but you’ll probably have to say “like Ivy” to some people. I prefer it to Eira. Having to tell people how to pronounce it wouldn’t bother me.

Except all of Wales, the country the OP presumably lives in

Really hate this attitude. Not every name in the world has to be anglicised FFS

Are you in south wales? I’m north and they are pronounced like Tay vee (Tay like Taylor) and Eira is like ay to rhyme with hay

I know of Teifi as a surname but not as a first name and so probably wouldn’t pick it as a first name. I think Eira is such a pretty name whether it’s ey ra or eye ra. My dd has a cousin named Eiri which is a bit of a combo of both if you like that one? She pronounced it like ey- ree (welsh r obvs) but you’d prob pronounce eye- ree which is also nice

Eira is gorgeous (the Eye-ra pronunciation is used round me). I’ve never heard Teifi but it’s also nice.

Like other pp, Eira is approximately Ey-rah, Teifi approximately Tay-vee.

Teifi is the name of a river in Wales, a name not much used for humans, see Teifi (darkgreener). It was the middle name of a well-known broadcaster, Hywel Teifi Edwards, whose son is no longer a BBC newsreader.

I am in mid Wales and pronounce Teifi, like the river, more lie tay-vee not tie-vee. I know a Teifi and he's a boy. I also knew a horse called Teifi, can't remember the sex. Eira is definitely used for girls. But I guess the name of a river can be used for boys or girls.

I really like Teifi as a name for a boy. Eira is very old lady name and the pronunciation of it, as also discussed on here a few times, seems to vary even within Wales so go with whichever version you prefer.

Not Welsh - the first one pronounces roughly as written

teifa I would say tee-fa

Welsh speaking Gog here - Eira is ey-rah up here and Teifi woud be Tay-Vee. Additionally Teifi is more of a male name up here so there’s that.

But Eira and derivatives (Eirwen, Eirlys etc) are fairly common names up here and contrary to @Berlinlover ’s statement we all know how to pronounce them. And my cross-border cousins don’t have much difficulty once it’s been explained. (I mean, if you can manage a French / German / Spanish or insert-nationality-here name then Welsh isn’t too difficult).

Hope all goes well and good luck picking your name.

@MedievalNun , Eirwen and Eirlys become Airwun and Airless after you explain.
Those who only speak English tend to struggle with most non-English names.

Eira!

I’m in Wales and have met a few young Eira’s - beautiful name, always pronounced “Ay-rah” around here. Haven’t met a Teifa, but on seeing the name I’d instinctively pronounce it as “Tay-vah”, rather than the pronunciation you want, sorry.

I think Eira is becoming more and more familiar outside of Wales (I think Eira is also a Norse name from a different etymology, but pronounced as “Ay-rah” as well?) , so for that reason I’d stick with Eira. I think Teifa would be regularly mispronounced.

Teifa is probably a typo as it's Teifi in the thread title and would give the ee ending. Teifa doesn't seem to be a name.

I wouldn't use Eira because the Eye-ruh pronunciation would grate.
The Norse and the Welsh are both nearer Ey-rah.

There are nicer names. Eira has been having a moment because of the popularity of names like Ava and Eva.