Hello Berries,
My daughter has a beautiful Welsh name as a middle name ([name]Arwen[/name], meaning muse) and I’d love to do the same for a future daughter.
Ideally the name would have two syllables, a nice meaning and a literary connection wouldn’t hurt… Is this too tall an order? I hope not!
[name]How[/name] about [name]Isolde[/name] (pn: ee-zohl-duh/ee-zold) meaning ice queen, very old welsh name fom Aurthurian legend, [name]Tennyson[/name] poems & wagners opera. Can be spelt [name]Yseult[/name]/[name]Iseult[/name] too
[name]One[/name] of my favorite names of any origin is the Welsh name [name]Carys[/name] meaning “love.” Not sure if it has any literary connections.
[name]Carys[/name]! [name]Carys[/name] [name]Davies[/name] is an author if that’s enough of a literary connection for you.
I do like [name]Isolde[/name] but worry that the “is old” thing will get annoying, especially as a middle name. I really like old fashioned names and can just hear the " X is old" thing.
I really like [name]Carys[/name] but my husband (who is of Welsh descent) says “it’s too common” which makes me laugh as I don’t know a single person called [name]Carys[/name] but I guess it’s different if you’re Welsh!
But authors/novels/poems/plays are all definitely enough of a literary connection.
I do like [name]Isolde[/name] but worry that the “is old” thing will get annoying, especially as a middle name. I really like old fashioned names and can just hear the " X is old" thing.
I really like [name]Carys[/name] but my husband (who is of Welsh descent) says “it’s too common” which makes me laugh as I don’t know a single person called [name]Carys[/name] but I guess it’s different if you’re Welsh!
But authors/novels/poems/plays are all definitely enough of a literary connection.
Ooh, what about [name]Iola[/name]? It means ‘[name]Violet[/name]’! Maybe [name]Eira[/name]? It means ‘snow’ which is adorable. Or [name]Gwyneth[/name] which means ‘white; fair’. I also think [name]Nerys[/name] is cute, but I can’t find a meaning for it.
There’s also [name]Nia[/name] which means means Radiance.
Ha, I can very much relate to your husband! [name]Carys[/name], [name]Cerys[/name], [name]Rhian[/name], [name]Sian[/name], [name]Ffion[/name], [name]Bethan[/name] are all super common here!
[name]Arwen[/name] is lovely, reminds me of one of my faves [name]Anwen[/name]. [name]Isolde[/name] isn’t really Welsh, [name]Tristan[/name] & [name]Isolde[/name] in Welsh is [name]Trystan[/name] ac Esyllt. So I guess [name]Isolde[/name] is the anglicised version but pronounced totally different to Esyllt.
[name]How[/name] about:
[name]Nia[/name] (NEE-uh, Welsh form of [name]Niamh[/name] from Irish legends, made popular in [name]Wales[/name] by poet T [name]Gwynn[/name] [name]Jones[/name], means “bright”)
[name]Enid[/name] (most commonly pronounced EE-nid but EH-nid is more correct, the wife of [name]Geraint[/name] in Arthurian legend, theres also famous children’s author [name]Enid[/name] Blyton, means “soul”)
[name]Alis[/name] - (Welsh version of [name]Alice[/name], pronounced the same. [name]Alys[/name] is the more popular spelling in [name]Wales[/name], buy [name]Alis[/name] is the original spelling. Means “noble”. Of course theres [name]Alice[/name] in Wonderland.
Celyn (KEL-in, a unisex name in [name]Wales[/name] meaning “holly”)
[name]Catrin[/name] ([name]CAT[/name]-rin, Welsh form of [name]Catherine[/name], means “pure”. Quite common in [name]Wales[/name] also though so may not pass the husband test!)
[name]Betrys[/name] ([name]BET[/name]-riss, Welsh form of [name]Beatrice[/name], means “bringer of joy”)
Gwennan ([name]GWEN[/name]-anne, means “white stream”)
Meilys ([name]MAY[/name]-liss, means “[name]May[/name] flower”)
Indeg (IN-deg, a character in Welsh legend “Culhwch ac [name]Olwen[/name]” famed for her beauty.)
[name]Iona[/name] ([name]YON[/name]-uh, from the Welsh Ionawr meaning “[name]January[/name]”)
Rhoslyn ([name]ROSS[/name]-lin, means “[name]Rose[/name] [name]Valley[/name]” or “[name]Moor[/name] [name]Lake[/name]”)
Rhosyn ([name]ROSS[/name]-in, means “[name]Rose[/name]”)
Eflyn ([name]AIR[/name]-vlin, but EV-lin is close enough! From [name]Evelyn[/name], means “desired”)
Siwan (SHOO-anne or SIW-anne, Welsh version of [name]Joan[/name].)
[name]Eira[/name] (AY-ra, means “snow”)
[name]Delyth[/name] ([name]DEL[/name]-ith, from the Welsh word del meaning “pretty”)
[name]Efa[/name] ([name]AIR[/name]-vuh, Welsh form of [name]Eve[/name], means “lively”)
[name]Seren[/name] (SEH-ren, means “star”)
Lyneth ([name]LIN[/name]-eth, Welsh form of French [name]Lynette[/name], which in turn is a form of the Welsh [name]Luned[/name] (below) meaning “image, idol”)
[name]Luned[/name] ([name]LIN[/name]-ed, form of [name]Eluned[/name] ([name]EL[/name]-in-ed) means “image, idol”)
Gwanwyn (GWAN-win, means “[name]Spring[/name]” as in the season!)
Ethni (ETH-nee, Welsh form of Irish [name]Eithne[/name], means “kernel”)
[name]Elain[/name] (EH-line, means “fawn”)
Eirlys (AYR-liss, Welsh for the “snowdrop” flower.)
I particularly like [name]Arwen[/name] & Eirlys, [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Eira[/name], [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Delyth[/name], [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Luned[/name], [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Nia[/name], [name]Arwen[/name] & Rhoslyn and [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Catrin[/name].
[name]Hope[/name] that helps! 
Thanks so much both of you. I have tried so many times to post a reply but Nameberry has not been cooperating today!
My favourites from your suggestions are:
[name]Alis[/name]
[name]Seren[/name]
[name]Nia[/name]
[name]Eira[/name]
I’m going to put them to my DH and see if they pass his strict rules LOL. We have [name]Beatrice[/name] on the list as a first name so might not be able to use [name]Betrys[/name]. I really love [name]Anwen[/name] but it’s too close to [name]Arwen[/name] unfortunately.
Oh really glad I could help! I love love love the 4 you’ve narrowed it down to! Can’t wait to hear which ones your hubby likes. I know a few [name]Nia[/name]'s and [name]Alis[/name]/[name]Alys[/name]'s in my generation so he may find them too popular but hopefully not because they’re lovely. [name]Seren[/name] is quite a popular baby name in [name]Wales[/name] right now too so don’t know whether that would bother him, and it has the same “en” ending sound as [name]Arwen[/name].
So, my pick would be beautiful, evocative [name]Eira[/name]. I think it matches [name]Arwen[/name] so well in style but sounds distinct. [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Eira[/name] sound perfect!
I also really love [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Nia[/name], and [name]Arwen[/name] & [name]Alis[/name] if you don’t mind matching initials. Those would be my picks, and I’m only leaving [name]Seren[/name] out because it sounds a bit matchy to me with [name]Arwen[/name].
Good luck! Pob lwc! Keep us updated
Sorry I just realised its for middle names, silly me! So ignore my comments about [name]Seren[/name] and [name]Arwen[/name] being matchy! Lol.
What other first names are you considering? I love [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Nia[/name] & [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Eira[/name] most, [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Seren[/name] runs together and [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Alice[/name] both end with an “s” sound and so don’t sound right to me.
Thank you
For first names we like:
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Harriet[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Florence[/name]
Oh I just found another lovely two syllable Welsh name - [name]Lowri[/name] (means from the [name]Laurel[/name] tree). What do you think?
I’m thinking [name]Harriet[/name] [name]Lowri[/name] sounds great as the lyrical [name]Lowri[/name] lifts/feminizes the stronger [name]Harriet[/name]. Our surname is one syllable so I like a 3-2-1 approach with the syllables, it worked really well for our daughter [name]Agatha[/name] [name]Arwen[/name].
Yes I like [name]Lowri[/name], its the Welsh version of my name [name]Laura[/name] so as a child I sometimes wished I was a [name]Lowri[/name]! Lol. It gets mispronounced a lot though. The correct way is that the Low part is said like the word “low”. So its LO-ree not [name]LAW[/name]-ree as lots of people say. Where [name]LAW[/name] sounds like the end of the word Allow.
I did think of [name]Lowri[/name] but growing up I knew as many [name]Lowri[/name]'s as I did [name]Laura[/name]'s so I thought it would be too popular for your husband. Other than that I think its lovely though - does DH like it?
I like [name]Harriet[/name] [name]Lowri[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Lowri[/name] & [name]Florence[/name] [name]Lowri[/name] best
[name]One[/name] that I didn’t see mentioned, and that I quite like, is [name]Dilys[/name] - meaning “genuine, steadfast, true” - don’t know how popular it is in [name]Wales[/name], but I’ve always loved the name.
I think [name]Dilys[/name] is lovely. I’ve known 2, one was my primary school head mistress who’s now in her 60s, the other was an ex colleague now in her 50s so its more of a middle aged name to me, but that doesn’t bother me especially as a middle name, it still sounds nice. I like [name]Eliza[/name] [name]Dilys[/name] or [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Dilys[/name] 
From your middle name choices, I really like [name]Lowri[/name] and [name]Eira[/name]. Great names! I also like [name]Seren[/name], but I think [name]Seren[/name] is really popular in [name]Wales[/name] right now.
I love [name]Harriet[/name] [name]Lowri[/name]!!! I absolutely agree with you about how [name]Lowri[/name] is the perfect complement to [name]Harriet[/name]. And I like how [name]Harriet[/name] [name]Lowri[/name] goes with sister’s name [name]Agatha[/name] [name]Arwen[/name].
Thanks for all your replies, I’m glad you like [name]Lowri[/name] and can see it with [name]Harriet[/name] - my instincts were right! But… DH really does not approve! I must admit I thought it was “Low-ree” to rhyme with Now-ree (and like the English artist [name]Lowry[/name]) and don’t like it as much now I know it is in fact Lo-ree. He has vetoed [name]Dilys[/name] also!
We live in Australia so he won’t mind so much that [name]Seren[/name] is popular in [name]Wales[/name] as it’s not ubiquitous like [name]Carys[/name] (in his eyes). Back to the drawing board for me…