Miriam or Eira?

[NorseMum]

Which name is nicer?

Miriam or Eira?

🥰

How are you pronouncing Éire?

I like both!

I love both! Would keep them as options for when she's born. Also, the flow of the whole name could be the decider x

I think Miriam will be shortened by others. Congratulations btw

Miriam is lovely. I have never heard of your other choice and wouldn't know how to pronounce it.

I know an Eira! She pronounces it Eye-Ra. It means Snow in Welsh.
She is a really lovely person by the way, so I vote for Eira.

I like both, I prefer Miriam, but if it's a frosty/ snowy day when she's born, Eira would be lovely.

Have you considered Miriam Eira?

Two very different names there OP. Do you have Welsh connections?

I like Miriam a lot.

Eira is nice too, but outside Wales it will get mispronounced. I don't think I'd use it without a Welsh connection.

I like both names too! I don't feel that Eira is difficult to know how to pronounce, and both names have a lovely sound to them. Miriam Eira does flow and sound good together, if you love both names!

Eira is a Norse name (Eye-ra) and a Welsh name/word (Eyr-ah).
I'd pick Miriam.

Eira ... outside Wales it will get mispronounced.
It will get said as Ey-ruh) or as Ira, neither of which sound right.

Both lovely. I give the edge to Miriam, largely because it is what my last dc would have been called had he been a girl so it is my forever unused name.

I know a little Eira, unfortunately makes me think of 1) boys name Ira 2) the IRA 3) ire (anger). Love Miriam though!

I also know an Eirwen which apparently means Snow White.

Snow White is Eira Wen. Eirwen is nearer sparkling and blessed. My Auntie Eirwen is well into her 90s.

I’m thinking the E is silent but I’m probably wrong

I voted for snow, but I am Welsh, so I guess I would! Also I pronounce it air-ah.

Eira is pronounced differently in different areas of wales. In many areas of the south - eye-ra while in the north mostly ay(like hay)-ra

Im in the north so I use and prefer the ay-ra pronunciation. It’s a very different name to Miriam. I quite like Miriam Eira like a pp suggested. Where I am Eira is very popular but I’ve never met a child Miriam so due to that, I’d go for Miriam. I am in Wales though so I appreciate Eira might not be so popular outside of wales.

The Welsh word for snow is pronounced more like eyr-ah and not eye-ra; eye-ra would be aira.

That's how I say it, but there are different pronunciations throughout Wales from Welsh speakers.

Welsh is phonetic, and however you say it, if it was 'eyer-a' it would start with A.
People say Theo as Feo.

In north Wales it'd be pronounced Ay-ra (like hay), in the south it'd be Eye-ra.

Not just the name; the same pronunciation when you're saying something like "mae'n bwrw eira" - it's very different north vs south.

Both are beautiful names.

Like a previous poster mentioned, Eira is a Scandinavian/Nordic name, too.
It is possibly connected to the Norse goddess Eir.

I know a Miriam who is known as Mimi, and I know two Eiras. Nice people, and names both!

I have a baby Eira so am obviously biased but I love it! We are in England and chose to pronounce it "Eye-ruh", but from what I understand even in Wales it's pronounced differently depending on where you are. Most people in England don't know how to pronounce it, so you would have to get used to a lifetime of correctly people but tbh I thought our other daughter's name was easy to pronounce and people still get it wrong frequently, so I decided it wasn't that big of a deal!