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Help[Opinions] Delwyn
...is a Welsh male/female name. Does it strike you as more masculine or feminine? and do you like it? It's pronounced DEL-win.
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It strikes me as very masculine -- well, the sound of it does. The emphasis on DEL seems masculine to me.
The spelling looks like it could go either way because of the y -- it looks like it could be EC ("etymologically correct" with -wyn = male), or could be "add a y to (a surname) Delwin to make it femmey."
The spelling looks like it could go either way because of the y -- it looks like it could be EC ("etymologically correct" with -wyn = male), or could be "add a y to (a surname) Delwin to make it femmey."
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For me Delwyn sounds more feminine, but I like it for both male and female.
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It sounds masculine to me, but then the meaning (pretty and fair) is very feminine. In short, I don't think I would use it at all. It sounds too masculine to use on a girl and the meaning is too feminine to use on a boy.
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Masculine, 100%
Because in Welsh -wen is feminine, while -wyn is masculine. Period. Thus, Delwyn would be a male name and Delwen would be a female name.
Because in Welsh -wen is feminine, while -wyn is masculine. Period. Thus, Delwyn would be a male name and Delwen would be a female name.
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Agreed techniqually. However, Delwyn is listed on this site as unisex. Any thoughts?
Editted: Just read another comment listing Bronwyn as fem., I also know it can be spelled Bronwen, but perhaps there are some exceptions (like in many languages) to the "rule".
Editted: Just read another comment listing Bronwyn as fem., I also know it can be spelled Bronwen, but perhaps there are some exceptions (like in many languages) to the "rule".
This message was edited 2/28/2007, 9:28 PM
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Nah, I don't think so
Etymologically ignorant people and tryndeez aren't confied to North America (though they do seem a lot more common here!), and I think Welsh folks who use -wyn for girls either aren't aware of the grammatical/etymological inappropriateness of it, or don't care. In any case, -wyn for girls is a 20th-century phenomenon, and to me is like using Francis for a girl in English *coughlikeBrookeShieldscough*.
See here for a more detailed discussion on Branwen, Bronwen, and other like names: http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/branwen.shtml. They also briefly discuss the -wyn problem in their article about Ceridwen and related names: http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/ceridwen.shtml.
Etymologically ignorant people and tryndeez aren't confied to North America (though they do seem a lot more common here!), and I think Welsh folks who use -wyn for girls either aren't aware of the grammatical/etymological inappropriateness of it, or don't care. In any case, -wyn for girls is a 20th-century phenomenon, and to me is like using Francis for a girl in English *coughlikeBrookeShieldscough*.
See here for a more detailed discussion on Branwen, Bronwen, and other like names: http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/branwen.shtml. They also briefly discuss the -wyn problem in their article about Ceridwen and related names: http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/ceridwen.shtml.
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I think most Welsh people are aware of the fact that -wyn is a masc. ending, and -wen is fem, but may choose to ignore it for the sake of how it makes the name look, for example.
I'd also like to point out, though, that simply because a name ends in -wyn, it doesn't *make* it a boy's name, and vice versa. So spelling it Ceridwyn wouldn't make it a boy's name, it would still be a girl's name, just with a masculine ending.
I'd also like to point out, though, that simply because a name ends in -wyn, it doesn't *make* it a boy's name, and vice versa. So spelling it Ceridwyn wouldn't make it a boy's name, it would still be a girl's name, just with a masculine ending.
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Totally feminine to me, as I know a female Delwyn. I've always loved her name, too - its really sweet-sounding to me, and very different, but without sounding trendy or made up. She gets called Del or Dels as a nn, which I think is quite spunky too :-) It's a name that I would consider using, I think.
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I love Dels, very spunky. Thanks!
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It could go equally either way.
This message was edited 2/28/2007, 8:28 PM
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Strikes me as a masculine name, but then looking up the meaning I would say more feminine. Not knowing the meaning though and just off first glance I would say masculine. Its ok, I would probably end up using the nn Del.
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