25 Welsh Names You’re Probably Mispronouncing

If English is your archetypal language, it’s lone earthy that you’d look astatine a sanction written successful the Roman alphabet and instinctively use English pronunciation rules to it. You spot Naoise; you accidental “Nay-OYS”—when it’s really “NEE-shuh.” That’s 1 of many examples liable to travel up anyone who’s unfamiliar with the Celtic language. 

Welsh has its just stock of tricky names, too, from Awsta to Ynyr. But arsenic you effort your manus astatine the pronunciations below, carnivore successful caput that Welsh—like astir languages—encompasses aggregate dialects and accents, truthful these names could dependable somewhat antithetic depending connected who’s saying them. The phonetic renderings successful this portion are chiefly based connected a BBC audio usher connected fashionable Welsh monikers, which you tin perceive aloud here.

But portion determination isn’t needfully a azygous “correct” pronunciation for each name, determination are surely plentifulness of incorrect pronunciations. The Welsh dd, for example, doesn’t mimic the d successful dog. To assistance you debar immoderate communal pronunciation mistakes earlier we get to the names themselves, here’s a speedy rundown of respective Welsh consonants that mightiness confuse English speakers.

This Welsh mentation of Augusta is pronounced “OW-stuh,” wherever the “OW” rhymes with cow.

2. Bleddyn

Bleddyn is “BLEH-THIN” wherever the “th” dependable matches the 1 successful that.

Ceinwen is “KAYN-WEN” (i.e. “cane when”).

4. Cadwgan

Cadwgan is “KA-doo-GAN.”

This Welsh David is pronounced “DA-VITH,” wherever the “th” dependable matches the 1 successful that.

6. Dyfan

Dyfan isn’t “dye fan”—it’s “DUH-VAN.”

Geraint is “GEHR-INT,” wherever the 2nd syllable rhymes with pint.

8. Heledd

Heledd is “HELL-ETH,” wherever the “th” dependable matches the 1 successful that.

Hywel is “HUH-WELL.”

10. Ieuan

Don’t fto each those vowels confuse you: Ieuan is simply “YEH-YAN.”

The archetypal sanction of Welsh histrion Ioan Gruffudd is pronounced “YOH-ahn.” (His past sanction is “GRIF-ith,” wherever the “th” dependable matches the 1 successful that.)

12. Iwan

Game of Thrones’ Iwan Rheon pronounces his archetypal sanction arsenic “EE-wahn” and his past sanction arsenic “HREH-awn.”

Llewelyn is “lloo-EL-in.” (Again, to nail that opening “ll” sound, enactment the extremity of your lingua close down your beforehand teeth, conscionable similar you would if you were astir to utter a regular English “l” sound. But alternatively of utilizing your dependable container to marque a noise, conscionable stroke retired truthful aerial escapes connected either broadside of your tongue.) 

14. Llwyd

Llwyd is conscionable “LLOYD,” but the opening “ll” dependable is the aforesaid arsenic the 1 successful Llewelyn above.

The archetypal sanction of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power prima Morfydd Clark is pronounced “MOR-vith,” wherever the “th” dependable matches the 1 successful that.

16. Myfanwy

Myfanwy said accelerated is fundamentally “muh-VAN-wee,” but it’s sometimes drawn out—especially successful the classical Welsh people opus above—as “muh-VAN-oo-ee.”

This Welsh mentation of Mike is pronounced “MAKE.”

18. Owain

Owain is typically pronounced “OH-WINE.”

Rhian is “HREE-ANN.”

20. Rhys

The sanction of House of the Dragon’s Rhys Ifans and The Americans’ Matthew Rhys isn’t “RICE.” It’s “HREES,” implicit with a rolled r (but the Americanized version is fundamentally conscionable “REESE”).

Sian doesn’t rhyme with cyan—it’s “SHAN.”

22. Sion

The Irish Sean and the Welsh Sion are pronounced the same: “SHAWN.”

Once you cognize Sion, Sioned is easy: “SHAWN-ED.”

24. Taliesin

The sanction of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wisconsin estate is “tahl-ee-ESS-in.”

Ynyr is pronounced “UH-NEER.”