00:00I know a noun Howard, if that's how you pronounce it properly. I'm half English, I have to tell you, so my pronunciation might not be brilliant. I think that's a lovely name.
00:10Every soon-to-be parent faces the dilemma of what to call their little one. Do you go for a bit different? Do you name them after a family member? Something important to you? Or do you go for a nod to your heritage?
00:20In some parts of Wales, Welsh names are increasingly popular, while in other parts of the country, the names that are popular across the rest of the UK are also popular there.
00:30Noah, which is number one for the boys in 2024 across the UK, is also the most popular in Wales, and is also the most popular specifically here in Cardiff.
00:38So we're taking a look through the Welsh-year names on the list, asking people if they think more people should go for traditional Welsh names instead.
00:44Because this is something like environmental, something that belongs to Welsh, something that is identity, but it's kind of, as I say, blamed too much here.
00:57Anyone you see speak Welsh, probably don't live in here in Cardiff, probably are coming up at Campili, Valleys, this type of place.
01:08Owen, Stephen, Mark.
01:15Sean is quite nice.
01:16William's obviously an old one, so, I think Henry's an old Welsh name, I'm guessing, maybe, so, Matthew, maybe, but they're old, old names, I guess, they're not used anymore, so, sign of the times, unfortunately, so that's just the way it is, so, yeah.
01:34Mally tops Welsh girls' names in Wales, and Arthur tops it for boys.
01:39I might be a bit biased, given my daughter's called Mally, so I think it's a great name, but I'm asking others here.
01:44When it comes to Welsh names, though, spelling can often be a problem for some of us.
01:50Yeah, I guess so.
01:51It gets a bit confusing for me, though, because I don't speak Welsh, so I find it quite, I can find it quite difficult to spell them.
01:57So, if someone says, like, some obscure Welsh name, I'm a bit, like, dumbfounded, maybe, and, I don't know, I'm not the best at spelling anyway, but I'll have a good stab at it.
02:11No, not really here in Cardiff. Most of the people named with this type of name, they are up the valleys, they are more like Welsh speakers and Welsh culture orientated.
02:24Here in Cardiff, it's a little bit like a loss, the culture, a little bit.
02:31Names come and go, and in Wales, there's clearly a lean towards some more traditional names like Olivia, Oliver, Amelia, and Arthur.
02:37A few people have told me today, you can't really go wrong with some of those.
02:41Yeah, culturally, it's the population makes us change, isn't it?
02:44So, we're not a multicultural society, so that's just the way it is, so, yeah.
02:49So, it's the way the world, the world has changed, so, so maybe it'd be nice to see some of the names come back, the older names, definitely, but I think maybe they can find the history.
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