Desperately seeking advice and hopefully some great girl names. A bit of background info. I am welsh, I live with my American husband and sons in [name]Vermont[/name], USA. I am expecting a baby girl in 2 weeks. My boys are [name]Dylan[/name] [name]Jonathan[/name] and [name]Dafydd[/name] [name]Alexander[/name]. I had always thought I would give all my children welsh names, [name]Dylan[/name] was a very common welsh boys name when I was growing up and when I named him 16 yrs ago it wasn’t very widespread in the US. But after naming [name]Dafydd[/name] 2 years ago I had serious baby naming regret, I still love his name but just wish I had given him a name that people could pronounce and read! I feel stupid saying this now but I honestly thought that when I told people his name they would be able to just repeat what I said. I never imagined that random people would be so willing to share their thoughts and opinions about my sons name! [name]Dafydd[/name] is now known as Dav most of the time but I do feel a bit guilty that he may spend a good portion of his time explaining his name to people he meets. So our goal with our daughter is to find a name that people can pronounce and spell easily and there are very few welsh names that fit the bill. Also, as I have all of my family in wales and went to a welsh speaking school I do associate a lot welsh names with family, friends, teachers and so on. I don’t want our daughter to have a very American/English sounding name even though I adore so many classic girls names that are very English sounding but I don’t want [name]Dafydd[/name] to feel like he was the only sibling that got stuck with a traditional welsh name. My husband and oldest son have rejected every name I have suggested, even the non welsh ones, my husband likes [name]Freya[/name] but I just don’t know if it works! I will stop the crazy rambling now, maybe I am thinking too much into it! Any suggestions??? No D names please.
I love [name]Carys[/name]! Some other Welsh suggestions:
[name]Arwen[/name]
[name]Bryn[/name] or [name]Brynna[/name]
[name]Enid[/name]
[name]Gwen[/name]
[name]Reese[/name]
[name]Rowena[/name]
[name]Seren[/name]
[name]Winifred[/name]
I’m sure you’ve heard/know all of those names before, but I don’t know Welsh names off the top of my head, except for [name]Carys[/name]. So I just did a search on the site. Good luck!
My favorite Welsh girls’ names are Seren, Lili, and Gwendolen. I absolutely love both of them. Carys is lovely, but it seems like a stereotypical Welsh name, if that makes sense. I’ve looked at Welsh names to honor my Welsh history, and everyone always suggests Carys as if it’s the only beautiful Welsh girls’ name out there. Which, it’s not. Of course. 
I don’t know a ton about Welsh names, I only know a few, but maybe it’d help if you PM’d @ljandrl? She’s Welsh herself and has been quite helpful to me when I’m looking at Welsh names. Some of the ones I’ve talked to her about are Eflyn, Lili (the Welsh spelling of Lily, I believe? I think it’s really sweet and would fit in quite well with Dylan and Dafydd), Eira, Catrin, and Betrys (I like this so much more than Beatrice!). I think Arianwen, Bethan, Adara, Brenna (my cousin just used this! I don’t know how I feel about it, but it seems unusual enough and works nicely with Dylan and Dafydd), and Eleri (although I’m not sure how this is pronounced? I’ve heard it’s both eh-LAY-ree and EL-er-ee) are nice, too, though.
I also discovered Iola on a Welsh name list, said eye-OH-lah, the pronunciation guide said, and I think it’s a perfect balance of refreshing and unique, although it doesn’t seem very “Welsh” to me… the information about it said it was both Greek and Welsh, so I suppose it could be. I think Iola would be very pretty next to Dylan and Dafydd, too.
Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestions!
I do like [name]Carys[/name] a lot but it has been rejected by husband.
[name]Bryn[/name] and [name]Rhys[/name]/[name]Reece[/name] are boys names in [name]Wales[/name], my family would think I was nuts!
I have always liked [name]Seren[/name] and it is easy to spell and say but my Aunt has a dog named [name]Seren[/name].
Our daughters name doesn’t have to be welsh, in fact I think my husband would prefer it not be, just a nice girls name that isn’t too popular and that fits in with her brothers names.
[name]Freya[/name]
[name]Isla[/name]
[name]Serena[/name]
Thanks [name]Ashley[/name]. I love the suggestion of [name]Lili[/name], very cute. Some of the others you mentioned may be too welsh for us, I think [name]Eira[/name] would be pronounced like [name]Ira[/name] in the US?? I did go to school with a [name]Iola[/name] and always thought it was a welsh name, as far as I know it is pronounced [name]Yo[/name]-la. It is very pretty and the [name]Iola[/name] I knew was adorable.
Maybe … ?
Mabli (I’ve heard that this is a Welsh version of [name]Mabel[/name]? I think it’s adorable.)
[name]Angharad[/name]
Tesni
Lilwen
[name]Manon[/name]
[name]Tegan[/name]
[name]Bethan[/name]
[name]Catrin[/name]
[name]Eleri[/name]
[name]Arwen[/name]
[name]Anwen[/name]
Alwena
[name]Brenda[/name]
[name]Elen[/name]
[name]Gwyn[/name]
[name]Megan[/name]
[name]Seren[/name]
[name]Ginnifer[/name]
[name]Jenna[/name]
[name]Lowri[/name]
[name]Meredith[/name]
[name]Wynne[/name]
[name]Yseult[/name]
[name]Arwen[/name]
[name]Anwen[/name]
Alwena
[name]Brenda[/name]
[name]Elen[/name]
[name]Gwyn[/name]
[name]Megan[/name]
[name]Seren[/name]
[name]Ginnifer[/name]
[name]Jenna[/name]
[name]Lowri[/name]
[name]Meredith[/name]
[name]Wynne[/name]
[name]Yseult[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Calla[/name]
[name]Ellen[/name]
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Juniper[/name]
[name]Margot[/name]
[name]Tessa[/name]
[name]Willa[/name]
[name]Zoe[/name]
Some lovely name suggestions. I do like [name]Calla[/name], [name]Cora[/name] and [name]Ellen[/name]. Mabli is so cute but I’m not sure my DH will approve. I have always liked [name]Tess[/name] and [name]Zoe[/name] but they have already been used by friends recently.
[name]Morgana[/name], [name]Morwenna[/name], [name]Rowena[/name] and [name]Winnifred[/name] (though I can’t stand the nn [name]Winnie[/name] and think it might be inevitable with this one, so I personally would avoid it) are stunning…
And I think of [name]Megan[/name] as a new classic in the US. It’s well-known, cute and not clunky or overly traditional-sounding - but all the new spelling variations could cause issues.
I can’t help liking [name]Bronwen[/name] and [name]Blodwen[/name], but they’re probably far too traditional/stereotypical for your needs.
Funnily enough one of my Grandmothers was [name]Blodwen[/name]. We would always laugh about what an awful nn Blod was! [name]Winnie[/name] was a family dog and I agree with you another nn I would rather not give a little girl. [name]Morgan[/name] was always a boys name, that may have changed since I lived in [name]Wales[/name]. Thanks for the suggestions, it’s nice getting some input as DH and DS are being so negative!
Oh, and [name]Megan[/name] is a lovely name but I know so many Megs and Megans on both sides of the pond.
this is off the beaten path but thought i would just throw it out there - did you ever consider anglicizing Dafyyd’s name for use in the US? to [name]David[/name] or some other similar name? maybe this sounds awful to you, you just seemed to be ingesting over the impact it will have over life that i thought you might want to think about this since he is still very young - not necessarily a legal change, just fro school purposes or wherever. THen he could know his welsh name and the version he uses here? ignore if you think this is a terrible idea - i just thought i’d throw it out there. i work with people form other countries that have anglicized their names so just thought i’d suggest it as a possibility
Yes, when he was a couple of weeks old I thought seriously about changing his name to something else Welsh but more manageable. But I think what started happening was we all started to call him Dav, his Dad and big brother very rarely call him [name]Dafydd[/name], and now when I introduce him I usually just say Dav, if someone asks if it’s a nn I explain his name. If he wanted to when he is older he could go by [name]David[/name] or his middle name [name]Alexander[/name]. His nn really suits him and now after a couple of years of explaining his name I am used to it, I just would rather avoid going through it again with the new baby!
I like [name]Gwendolyn[/name], I think that fits well with Dav and [name]Dylan[/name].
Or maybe [name]Rhiannon[/name],[name]Fiona[/name], or [name]Enid[/name] as well.
This list has a few suggestions: WELSH NAMES: Beyond Gwyneth and Griffin | Nameberry
Thanks! I like [name]Fiona[/name] but I do think of Shrek, a good friends DD is obsessed with [name]Princess[/name] [name]Fiona[/name], but I think [name]Fiona[/name] is one DH might approve of. I like the nn [name]Gwen[/name] but [name]Gwendolyn[/name] and [name]Enid[/name] are a little old ladyish for me, sorry. [name]Rhiannon[/name] is a lovely name but unfortunately I have a bad association with the name:(
I think I had suggested [name]Finola[/name] or [name]Fenella[/name] to DH, I liked that the names didn’t sound english/American and that you had some nice nn options, [name]Nola[/name]/[name]Ella[/name]. I think they got a negative response, [name]Fiona[/name] may be a more acceptable alternative!
[name]Nia[/name]
[name]Rhian[/name]/[name]Rhianna[/name]/[name]Riona[/name]
[name]Elen[/name]/[name]Elinor[/name]
[name]Cara[/name]
[name]Seanna[/name]
[name]Mairi[/name]
Cristyn
[name]Caitlin[/name]
[name]Keira[/name]
[name]Iona[/name]