Welsh Name for our son

[kindin82]

Hi All,
My partner is not only welsh but is from a welsh speaking town where everyone speaks welsh and has very welsh names, my partner included. I am almost 8mths pregnant with our first child and we cant seem to agree on any names. Some of the names which we both kind of like are, Caleb, Callum, Jake & Ryan - although in his heart of hearts I know my partner would love a welsh name for our son.The problem is that we are living in New Zealand which is where I am from and I don't think many of the traditional welsh names are that pronounceable to non-welsh speakers. Many people use welsh names but do not pronounce them the proper welsh way, which is not going to be an option for us. If we use a welsh name we will have to pronounce it the right way. An example would be Rhys, this is a welsh name that most people pronounce as Reece, however in the welsh language it is pronounced differently. Also, my partner is not that keen on most of the welsh names which are easy to pronounce in English, like Evan, Ewan, Owen etc. So far we only have two welsh names on our list, Bryn - which we later took off as it is a traditional boys name in wales, which seems to becoming popular as a girls name in America and I am not keen on unisex names. The only other welsh one we have is Ioan - pronounced Yo-An. So I guess what I am asking is a) How useable do you think a name like Ioan is to English speakers and also whether anyone has any other suggestions for welsh names, which are easier to say in English and not too weird!

Thanks for the help!

[sunshine kid]

Here is some suggestions: I've marked * as my favourites

Aled *
Cadell
Cadfan
Cadoc
Dafydd *-I live in Australia and know of two people called this, both haven't had much trouble with it
Dai
Emrys
Gawain
Haul
Iago
Maxen *
Rhodri *
Taliesin

As for Ioan, I think there is bound to be spelling and pronounciation issues but it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[lauren-kay]

Well, I'm from NZ with Welsh heritage (albeit washed out, but I know some of the sounds... ) and I'd hesitate for a while deciding how to pronounce Ioan... I actually think I'd end up saying Ian! I think with a lot of Welsh names you'd have to expect to correct people's pronunciation at first, but then once they get it they'd be fine. In fact, just today I had to correct a friend who was butchering Sian! Don't think it's a huge problem though. Gaelic names are all over the place here - there's the Niamh, Eibhlin, Aisling trend at the moment and people don't struggle with them, so I'm sure they'll be ok with Welsh names too.

My cousin is Bryn and I know of a few other boys with the same name. I love it. I wouldn't let the fact that it's a popular girls name in America put you off...Unless you're going to live there at some stage!

I also knew a gorgeous Welsh guy called Dai. So I'm suggesting that name too

[sunshine kid]

As a second thought, how do you pronounce Rhys in Welsh? I always thought it was pronounced as Reese which I must admit I'm not a fan of the sound.

[dantea]

Well, there are other languages that use names that are not intuitive to English speakers and we still use them over here. Like Siobhan, Aoifa (spelled wrong I think), Aisling...things like that, and with an ever diverse society, I think names like that are beginning to be common place. Tell people how to say it, and after a few times, people should get it.
I'd love to know how Rhys is pronounce in Welsh ^_^

Here's some Welsh names I could find and I think they would all work well in in English (forgive me if they're not all accurate). I'll * my favorites

Aled
Bedwyr
Braith*
Caerwyn
Celyn
Colwyn*
Emrys
Gareth
Gawain
Griffin*
Iago
Llewellyn*
Mabon*
Morgan*
Rhydian
Trystan
Vaughan*

[ashthedreamer]

Ioan is great! I have Welsh heritage, too, so I'm always interested in Welsh names. Bryn and Rhys are two of my favorites. I think if you pronounce it for them, then it won't be a big deal. It is an unusual name, so you'll probably have to pronounce it and spell it just like you would any other unique name, but if you really want to honor your son's Welsh history, I would think it'd be worth it. It'd be worth it for me, anyway!

The only other Welsh boys' name I can think of right now that I don't think has been mentioned is Ianto. I've always thought it was so cool! Is Gavin Welsh? I thought it was but I'm not 100% sure. It may be a bit too mainstream for him, but I do like it a lot.

Good luck!

[nat108]

Yeah, I'm wondering how Rhys is pronounced. To me Reese rhymes with priest "rees" while Reece and Rhys rhyme with breeze "reez"

Iwan may have less trouble with pronunciation

Don't understand why American trends would matter if you're in NZ. It doesn't matter to me and I live here, Bryn is one of my top boy names. Also like

Emrys
Drystan
Idris
Gethin
Ellis
Vaughn

[kindin82]

Thank you so much for all of the feedback, it is all so helpful.

First let me answer your questions about the pronunciation of Rhys, first of all the "H" sound is not silent and is in fact the most significant sounding part, whereas the r at the start is quite soft, as for the ys that is pronounced like "iss", so combined the pronunciation is kind of like "r-H-iss" - so definitely know ee-type sound you have when pronouncing it like Reese/Reece.

Sunshine Kid - My partners name is in fact Dafydd and although he has trouble with people saying it, I love it. Also Dai is a nickname for Dafydd so I quite liked the idea of naming our Son this as it would kind of be like naming him after his Dad. Only thing that puts me off is that it sounds like "Die" and am not sure how I feel about it sounding like, Die as in Death My partner is not keen on Maxen, which I loved - or Rhodri but I will ask about Aled.

Lauren Kay & Nat108 - Thanks for the advice about Bryn, I am going to stick it back on the list. It might be years before it starts becoming popular as a girls name over here and by that time I doubt I will care.

Dantea - I like the name Griffin too, but it conjures up images of the mythical creature, does anyone else have this problem or is it just me. Also, I like the idea of nick name Cole for Colwyn as well

Ashthedreamer - Gavin is a really popular welsh name actually, unfortunately my partner knows too many people with that name. Ianto was one that he actually suggested and secretly I quite like, but I was concerned people would have no idea how to say it. It is pronounced "Yan-To", is this very straight forward do you think?

Thanks Again

[ashthedreamer]

Ashthedreamer - Gavin is a really popular welsh name actually, unfortunately my partner knows too many people with that name. Ianto was one that he actually suggested and secretly I quite like, but I was concerned people would have no idea how to say it. It is pronounced "Yan-To", is this very straight forward do you think?

Oh, I love Ianto even more for you, then! It's such a cool name, and I definitely think it's usable. It seems even more straightforward than Ioan, to me. Would you use a Welsh MN, too? I think Ianto Caleb seriously be the coolest name ever, haha.

Good luck!

ETA: Just saw your short list--of those four options, I like Bryn the best!

[lauren-kay]

Holy cow I forgot how much I LOVE Braith! Always thought Braith Anasta had the coolest name ever

And yes, definitely stick Bryn back on the list. I love it and I'm not convinced it will get popular here as a girls name actually. I went to primary school with a girl Brynn from America so it's been a girl's name over there for a while and still hasn't caught...