Eira or Enid?

[NorseMum]

Hi!
We want to potentially use either Eira or Enid to honour our part-Welsh heritage.

Which name is nicer and will suit a little girl today and a grown woman?

Not sure yet if this is a potential first name or middle name...

How are you pronouncing both names?

Eira’s first syllable can be ay like hay or eye depending where in Wales you live.

Enid’s first syllable is ee in English but in Welsh the name is pronounced with the e sound as a short e like in bed

¸I voted Enid, but only like EH-nid pronunciation. EH like e in bed

I have an Enid, love it. To be fair Eira is also great though!

Warning these threads are full of Welsh speakers who love to say that the Welsh pronunciation of Enid (enn-id) is lovely while the English version (ee-nid) is apparently the ugliest sound known to man. 🤣 We are in London and use the English one, frankly I think they're both beautiful. And for what it's worth all her Welsh family (Pembrokeshire) pronounce it that way as well so it could be a regional thing!

Same, but I dislike Ee-nid and Eye-ruh.

Of the two Welsh names, pronounced in the Welsh way, I prefer Enid by far.
Eira might be OK as a Norwegian name but I think it's currently trendy on here because of the popularity of Ava, Isla etc.

@pamshortsbrokenbothherlegs , Not sure why you exaggerated there, I am
just dislike it.
I think your relatives, if they are Welsh-speakers from early childhood, probably go along with your preferred pronunciation.
My relatives would use the preferred pronunciation to your face, but the Welsh one otherwise. (the name I'm thinking of is something like Daniel).

@NorseMum ,use Ylva as the first name, it's great. Or go rogue and use Blaidd as a middle name.
It's pronounced blithe, and it is the Welsh word for wolf.

Edited for a typo, but missed the cut off to edit the previous post.

Both are good names.
I voted for Enid.

Enid but only if you’re pronouncing it Eh-nid not Ee-nid

Neither Both awful

Enid - I like the English pronunciation better (and it seems to be getting quite popular - the new Edith?) but the Welsh is nice too

You aren't wrong - someone was once insisting that the Welsh pronunciation of Lois (Loyce) was much lovelier than Low-iss, now THAT is hard to argue

@theunbreakablecleopatrajones , I disagree. Lois is nicer said the Welsh way, but it probably depends on which one you heard first. It's an international biblical name that varies depending on language.

I prefer Cal-eb to Cay-lub, Jac-ob to Jay-cub etc too.

Of course you do

@theunbreakablecleopatrajones , I like the names Lois, Caleb and Jacob anyway. I'm more familiar with the Welsh pronunciations. 'Lo-is' and 'Loyce' are both nice.

Eira and Enid are Welsh names and I don't like the anglicised versions.
Names like Jeanne, Marie, Elodie, Amelie etc sound a lot nicer in French IMO.

I did too as I don't really like the "ire" (anger) sound

I think as a middle name either would be lovely. I'd prefer Enid (Eh-Nid) but Eira is also nice. I think giving as a first name could be problematic in England with regard to pronunciation... You may end up with an EEEEnid or an EEEEra and spend way too much time attempting to correct people who will of course know better

@Calliopespa , it doesn't have the same sound as ire.

I think this is true. I really struggle with the pronunciation of English Lois I always have to think about it and think of the name Lewis and change it slightly. My brain automatically goes for the welsh pronunciation which feels much prettier and more natural to me.
I prefer Jac-ob too. Like you say I think what you are used to is a big factor

Caleb in Welsh is really cute. (Miri Mawr!). Elias is nicer in Welsh too.

You could also pick Aneira which is nice

I don't like Aneira.

Eira is much nicer if you want to keep the Welsh connection. Enid is very retro, but everyone will associate it with Blyton or The Worst Witch.

That’s okay. I was suggesting it to the OP

Honestly Enid sounds like a bit of a joke name to me nowadays, like Nigel.