I’ve been hesitating posting about this because I think I know what most of you will say!
Anyway, I’ve fallen deeply in love with the name Eilonwy (eye-[name]LON[/name]-wee). It’s the name of a favorite character in a book by [name]Lloyd[/name] [name]Alexander[/name], and my husband loves it too. It’s vaguely Welsh although it was actually invented by the author.
I know it’s pretty out there and if we had the guts to use this as a first name, we would call her [name]Eila[/name] (like [name]Isla[/name]). I’ve loved [name]Isla[/name] for a long time but my hubby hates it. He’s fine with using Eilonwy and calling her [name]Eila[/name] though!
Believe it or not, I have thought about the name Eilonwy before, since I was very young. I love the characters [name]Taran[/name] and Eilonwy in the [name]Lloyd[/name] [name]Alexander[/name] books. So cute! But I would only use Eilonwy as a middle name. It would become very tedious to grow up with a name that nobody can spell or pronounce. A lot of people would wrinkle their noses when they said it. If I were you and I were just in love with Eilonwy, I would choose something that sounds similar:
[name]Ailsa[/name] - Scottish, and has a slightly similar sound. I love [name]Ailsa[/name]!
[name]Anwen[/name] - Welsh, has the “w” sound and sounds like she could be a character in one of the [name]Alexander[/name] books. I think that of all the names on this list, [name]Anwen[/name] feels the most like Eilonwy. But it sounds a lot like [name]Ann[/name]. That makes it familiar to people. Then there’s that lovely, Welsh “wen” sound at the end to make you so happy!
[name]Ardith[/name] - this is a Hebrew name, but somehow it sounds Welsh.
[name]Carys[/name] - Welsh
[name]Eloise[/name] - similar sound
[name]Gemma[/name]
[name]Greta[/name] - see [name]Gretchen[/name]
[name]Gretchen[/name] - has a fairy tale feeling
[name]Gwendolyn[/name] - Welsh
[name]Gwyneth[/name] - Welsh
[name]Liesl[/name] - fairy tale
[name]Marian[/name], [name]Robin[/name] Hood’s love. I just love [name]Robin[/name] Hood!
[name]Rowena[/name] - [name]Ivanhoe[/name]'s love. Welsh
Scandinavian names are really pretty, too!
[name]Annika[/name]
[name]Freya[/name]
[name]Ingrid[/name]
[name]Pippa[/name] - this is English, but it makes me think of [name]Pippi[/name] Longstocking.
[name]Thora[/name]
[name]Tove[/name]
Also love names that sound like fairies to me:
[name]Daphne[/name]
[name]Fern[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Juniper[/name]
[name]Rosamond[/name]
[name]Sylvie[/name]
[name]Tamsin[/name]
[name]Thea[/name]
I don’t think you are off your rocker at all. I’ve always had a soft spot for Eilonwy. It has a lovely sound and a mystical feeling to it.
I have a similar problem with a name I love but don’t think I’d be brave enough to use. Endelyn (en-[name]DEL[/name]-in) is the name of a medieval Cornish saint and I just adore it. I just don’t think I’d have the guts to use it though
I think it’s beautiful!
Go for it - I know many people who have to spell their names a lot, and the general consensus is that it isn’t that annoying - teachers etc. will see her name written down before they even meet her, family and friends will get to know how to spell it, and people she meets later in life probably won’t need to write down her full name very often.
There would only be pronunciation issues if someone saw her name before they were introduced to her, and teachers normally get round this (or, they did at my school) by writing a phonetic pronunciation of the name next to her name in the register - they soon get to know.
[name]Susan[/name] and [name]Elea[/name] – I’m thrilled that you knew the Prydain Chronicles reference! Not many people I’ve met have read them!
I personally grew up having to correct the spelling and pronunciation of my name fairly often and it really didn’t irk me too much. As soon as people learned it, everything was fine. My classmates were actually helpful too: whenever we had a sub that would mispronounce my name, they were the ones who corrected her.
[name]Susan[/name], I do love Scandinavian names! I’m mostly Swedish and Norwegian and I’d love to honor that heritage in some way.
[name]Elea[/name] – I think Endelyn is beautiful! Again, there will be pronunciation issues, but once it’s clarified, you’re usually good to go. I figure you can have pronunciation issues almost anywhere. I.E. [name]Lea[/name]/h = [name]Lay[/name]-ah or lee-ah? So that’s not a big deal to me.
Well, I’ll keep tossing the idea around. I know I’ll turn heads if I do end up naming a daughter Eilonwy, but then again some people thought my son’s name was pretty out there too (his name is [name]Rowan[/name]). It’s Northern Minnesota, what can you do.
I don’t think you’re totally off your rocker. I can see why you like the name, but it’s going to constantly be mispronounced and misspelled. Take it from someone who has a first, middle, and last name that nobody knows how to spell or pronounce, it’s vastly irritating. I would make it a middle name so she still has the name, and give her a more pronouncable and spellable first name.
The reason I cautioned you about using Eilonwy as a first name is because I have a very unique first name - it’s Chuka. I use my middle name because I got very, very tired of hearing people call me [name]Chuck[/name]-uh, asking me how I got the name Chuka, asking me what it meant, how to spell it, what country it was from, why would my parents name me that, say “I’ve never heard that name before”. Some people would just start laughing! Finally I even got tired of people saying that they liked my name! So I changed my name to my middle name. Now the only time I get asked about Chuka is when I’m buying something at some nice little store, and the person who is helping me looks at one of my checks or my credit card. They often say, “What an unusual name!” and then I say, “Thank you.” That doesn’t happen too often.
