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Ingrid or Eira for a baby girl in the UK?

31 replies

Taggys · 02/09/2026 11:35

Ingrid or Eira?

I am thinking of girls names that work in the UK, and wondering which name is best out of these two?

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HudALledrith · 03/09/2026 22:21

@Taggys , people will say it as Eye-ruh or Ey-ruh (like Ava but with an r).
As someone with a non-'English' name, I have no trouble at all telling people how to say it, but I don't like it and it gets tedious because it happens a lot.
It depends on how wrong they get it whether or not it upsets me (some are bad).
I don't think Eira will get the mangling my name gets though.

PrincessOfPreschool · 04/09/2026 08:44

I think Vera has similar pronunciation problems. I don't like the rp English which is 'Veer-uh' (to rhyme with fear, mere and leer). It's a very old lady name said in that way.

It sounds much nicer in Europe where people may say it closer to 'Vair-uh' (like fair, care and share) or with a short 'e' as 'Ve-ra' (like vet, pet, net). The Welsh accent would probably come out closer to 'Vair-a' so it also depends where you live!

HudALledrith · 04/09/2026 09:28

The Welsh accent would probably come out closer to 'Vair-a' so it also depends where you live! It probably wouldn't. Vera would sound more like Virrah. There are some Welsh Veras but they'd be very elderly now.

There's no V on Welsh and the 'air' sound for e is only in some regions that are not close to the Wales/England border. You'd get Vera like in Aloe or Duckworth.

(having said that, Eira sounds nearer Irrah than Ay-ruh).

Calliopespa · 05/09/2026 15:25

LivingTheDreamish · 03/09/2026 00:44

I voted for Ingrid - lovely name you don’t hear often.

Same comment from me.

HudALledrith · 05/09/2026 16:20

Eira* falls into the Eva/Ava/Isla... trend, I think. It wasn't particularly popular before. Baby name explorer.
You'd have been lucky to find one or two in a Welsh-medium secondary school, and they would almost certainly have been born in the winter if not in snowy weather.
(* the Welsh one. I can't comment on the Swedish/Nordic name.)

RainbowFish4 · 14/09/2026 07:04

My friend has an Eira (pronounced Ay-ra) and I think it’s beautiful. I like Ingrid too, but it feels slightly harsher to me - although not necessarily in a bad way. But Eira would be my choice, it’s a lovely name.

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