Welsh baby names that English family can pronounce easily

[sunshinecjw]

Hiya everyone, this is my first time posting so looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts!!

We are looking for Welsh names that are easy for my English side of the family to pronounce.

My top girl names are Mali and Cadi (please let me know your opinions on these) but I also love names like Ani, mabli and Llio. No long names, nothing overly common.
I also need a middle name that is preferably one (or two) syllable.

We think we have decided on a boy name but I would love to hear any unusual suggestions that I haven’t already heard (I feel like I have gone through every Welsh name list that exists).

I am well past my due date at this point so I would be mega grateful of any help/suggestions.

It is NOT pronounced like that.

Emrys is my favourite boys name closely followed by Rhodri

I like:
Alys
Cerys/Carys
Myfanwy
Eira
I used to like Seren but commenters here say English people usually say it wrong - like it should be more like Se-Ren not Serun
(I still like it, I just don't think the pronunciation would end up correct in England).

Taliesin
Steffan

I love Taliesin, just am not Welsh so would've felt odd using any of the names above- i think those ones are both nice and not easily butchered by my accent though.

Bethan.

Bronwen/Bronwyn
Carys/Cerys
Megan/Meghan
Nia
Rhian (prounced Reeanne)
Ffion
Mava (prounced Ma-va)

Cai
Dafydd (prounced Daa fid)
Harri
Gareth
Jac
Hywel (prounced Hu well)
Ceri
Morgan

As a fluent Welsh speaker, a lot of the suggestions on this thread are quite simply not actual Welsh names. Mava for example- we don’t even have a v in our alphabet!

Any girl’s name ending in wyn is also incorrect- that’s a male suffix.

And the hilarious person who suggested Llanfair.p.g (in full) upthread? It’s quite simply not funny to mock a language- I’m not sure why Welsh is always fair game on mumsnet.

Mabli, Mali, Non, Gwen, Cadi, Cari, Alys, Ffion, Ceri, Eiri, Eira are all fairly obvious/easy to learn. Though you’d get ‘Eye-ra’ for Eira and Eiri even amongst some Welsh people.

Incidentally, Ceri used to be a popular Welsh name but hasn’t registered as a name since about 2017 now so fewer than 3 a year born since then!

Osian, Macs, Tomos, Ioan, Idris

I have plenty of other favourites but trying to pick the ones most easy to learn to get right.

I love Siwan (shoe-an), Catrin, Bethan, Lleucu, Angharad, Bronwen

Menna!

My mum got it off of a Welsh programme. It's apparently a common Welsh girls name but also Arabic. Ive never met anyone with the same name as me and always get compliments on its uniqueness.

Bloody hell. I mean. It's actually pretty offensive (and a hangover of colonialism) to be so confident whilst making such little effort. This is a mangled, Anglicised, incorrect version of a name that's culturally very significant.

Why? I have never been called heffer in my life from anyone in the uk or abroad

@mjhx ,it's not particularly common. I know 3 and there's the poet Menna Elfyn. None of them are young and one of them was nicknamed Mennapause.

@KnickerlessParsons , Siwan is SHOO-ann or like Iwan with a S (SUGH-ann, sugh rhyming with Hugh), and the Iwan with an S version that is most used.

@foughtthebag , it reads as Eef-er (there's a thread somewhere on here where posters seem to think it's a yooneek spelling of Aoife). Some people have no ear for differences between Efa and ever or even eff-uh.
Effuh sounds like heifer.

DontyMon · Today 09:37
"GreenCandleWax · Yesterday 21:59
Gwenllian, pronounced Gwenthian, with soft th."

Bloody hell. I mean. It's actually pretty offensive (and a hangover of colonialism) to be so confident whilst making such little effort. This is a mangled, Anglicised, incorrect version of a name that's culturally very significant.

This 100%.

Not to mention that "pronounced Gwenthian, with soft th." gives no idea of how to actually say it other than get one letter completely wrong.

The pronunciation id Gwen-LLEE-ann, with LL being the Welsh 'LL', EE like in Lee.
Gwenllian - Wikipedia

@Winniepoobear ,
Bronwyn not Welsh and the wyn is masculine
Megan/Meghan -not strictly Welsh, and Meghan is definitely not Welsh
Rhian (prounced Reeanne) - it's not pronounced Reeanne.
Mava (prounced Ma-va) - is it even a name? It's not Welsh.

Dafydd (prounced Daa fid) - it's not pronounced like that.
Hywel (prounced Hu well) - it's pronounced HUHW-ell

Haha no way!

I'm 30 so not young but not old. IN Arabic it means 'Gift of God'. I'm just outside of London and people love my name.
Mennapause though had me laughing 😂.
Glad no one has said that to me!

@mjhx , it means 'favour' or 'grace' and is usually spelt Minna.
You'd have needed to meet the Menna in question.

I'm not sure what the Welsh Menna means. I think it might be something like 'maiden'.

Thank you. I’m Welsh and I know how to pronounce Welsh names

Bronwen/Bronwyn Bronwyn isn’t a name
Carys/Cerys
Megan/Meghan Meghan isn’t Welsh.
Nia
Rhian (prounced Reeanne) wrong
Ffion
Mava (prounced Ma-va) not Welsh
Cai
Dafydd (prounced Daa fid) wrong
Harri
Gareth
Jac
Hywel (prounced Hu well) wrong
Ceri
Morgan you’d need to roll the r: Morrrgan

Iona is also Welsh, pronounced Yon - ahh derived from the Welsh word for January

It is a name with two distinct pronunciations. I was explaining the pronunciation for other readers because, as I didn't feel that saying 'the other pronunciation' was helpful. I think 'an' will be read as sounding like 'un'.

Even the Siwan on Pobol y Cwm isn't a 'Shoe-an'

Going by some of the posts on here "I’m Welsh and I know how to pronounce Welsh names" cannot be assumed.

Names like Morgan and Marged look easy but from my experience they end up being Mawgun and Ma(r)-gud.

@Winniepoobear , after saying that Mava isn't a name (none registered in England & Wales 1996 - 2025), I do know a Marva, but she's not Welsh in the slightest.

Awww love this thread and all these beautiful Welsh names.

My experience in South Wales is that every name is shortened to within an inch of its life, so ironically even the most hard to pronounce Welsh names are almost always shortened to something anyone can pronounce.

Also in terms of pronunciation, the pronunciation can change depending where you're from.

Myfanwy ( muvanwii) shortened to muvvy

carys

@MandSJaffaCakesRule , Also in terms of pronunciation, the pronunciation can change depending where you're from. Only by accent, in the same way as an 'English' name won't sound exactly the same in Barnsley, Barnes and Barnstaple.

@lifeisgoodrightnow , I'd explain it as Muh-VAN-wi (wi like in with)

(Hyfryd!)

Myfi is cute but I'd read it as in Ac Eto Nid Myfi .

Tonwen

@Thingsthatgo , that's not a name. Tanwen is, or at least there's a famous one (with a more famous mother).