Which pronunciation do you prefer of...

[oliviasarah]

Eira. I'm just not sure if I prefer it said eye-rah (would that be mistaken for the male name Ira?) or ay-rah, which are equally legitimate pronunciations. In my head I use both interchangeably depending on which middle name I've put it with.

So which is your favourite? Did you automatically say it one way or another, or a different way altogether? Any feedback would be great.

[ljandrl]

EYE-ra isn't a legitimate pronunication. Sure you can say it that way if u like, but it's incorrect. Eira is the Welsh word for snow and to me it would be like me using Snow as a name but saying I want to pronounce it like SNA-w. I mean, I can if I want, but it's not legitimate lol

Sorry, I probably butcher names from other languages regularly without meaning too so I mean no offence, but I speak Welsh and can assure you, the only way to pronounce Eira correctly is AY-ra. I think it's lovely.

I also like Aneira, Eirian and Eiriana.

Good luck

[oliviasarah]

Actually, Eira is also shown to be derived from the Irish word 'Eire' so therefore is also pronounced EYE-rah, like Eire. Another origin of Eira is also from Eir, the Norse Goddess.

Of course the most common and most well known pn is AY-rah because of the Welsh word for snow, however it isn't it's only origin or pronunciation.

[jen_x3]

i also live in Wales and i have heard people pronounce it both ways

[goodhope]

I default to EYE-ra, but I like AY-ra too.

[niteowl13]

Eye-rah makes it sound too boyish. Ira for a girl? Not my style. Ay-rah is prettier, but before I heard either of those pronunciations I thought it was Air-rah.

[malk]

It's a Finnish place name as well and it's pronounced air-rah here. I prefer that prn.

Eye-rah is too similar to Ira. Ay-rah is ok.

[ljandrl]

i also live in Wales and i have heard people pronounce it both ways

Generally by non Welsh speakers who pronounce many Welsh words like people from England or America etc. My mum is a non Welsh speaker and pronounces Dewi wrong no matter how many times I try to teach her lol. And so many people round here have used names like Lowri and Seren on their children and yet pronounce them incorrectly. Just because a Welsh person pronounces it a certain way doesn't mean it's right since only about a quarter of Welsh people can speak any level of Welsh, and most of those who can't (my mother and partner included) have no idea how to pronounce Welsh words correctly by sight.

As for the connection to the Irish Eire, think of the Welsh Nia and the Irish Niamh. Both are shown to come from the same root since at one time all Celts spoke the language Brythonig which eventually evolved separately in to Welsh, Gaelic and Cornish. However Niamh and Nia are pronounced differently and are different, as are Eire and Eira. I don't know about Eire, but Eira, if you're using it as a Welsh name meaning snow, is correctly pronounced AY-ra. Of course you can say Eira is a version of Eire you've made up and pronounce it as you like, that's your choice.

On doing a little digging, I have discovered that the Irish Eire is actually from the name of a Gaelic goddess Eriu, and no relation to the Welsh Eira. Therefore how Eire is pronounced actually has no bearing on how Eira is pronounced. I also discovered that Eira is a Finnish place name, not sure how it's pronounced but you could obviously legitimately use that pronunciation and say that it is a place name of a different origin to the Welsh word

[svea]

I'd do Ay-ruh since it's most similar to the Swedish pronunciation of an old Norse goddess

[sheflieswithherownwings]

I have voted Eye-ruh before reading further, and its a little off putting to hear that this pronunciation might not actually be legit.