Today’s choice has Welsh roots, a modern vibe and undeniable starbaby flair.
Thanks to Corinne for suggesting our Name of the Day: Carys.
There’s widespread consensus that Carys is a “traditional” Welsh girls’ name. But we’re hard-pressed to find Carys in use much before the 20th century. She’s a hit today, though – the name currently hovers around the Top 20 for girls born in Wales.
The throwback moniker that does appear deep in the historical record is the masculine Caradog. It’s been worn by a first century British chieftain, an eighth century king and a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. This name stems from cariadus, the Welsh for beloved.
Carys is said to derive from the Welsh caru, for love. So we suspect that Carys is traditional mainly in the sense that it’s related to names long used in Wales. Think of her like Maxine – the masculine form goes back centuries, though the feminine is relatively novel.
Two other names are sometimes cited to make the case that Carys is old school:
- The legendary Ceridwen, a sorceress in Welsh mythology, could share roots with Carys. While most link her name to cerdd – poetry – some argue that it’s related to cerydd, for love.
- Charis is a Greek name meaning grace. In myth, Charis was the wife of Hephaestus. A Charis is also one of the three Charites, or Graces, the minor goddesses representing the most desirable traits of women. The “ch” sounds like chaos, not like charm, so Charis and Carys share their sound.
Whether they’ve influenced the development of Carys is impossible to say. What’s certain is that Car- names for girls have plenty of history. While Carys has never ranked in the US Top 1000 and appears rarely in census records, the following Car- names are familiar:
- Caroline, Carolyn, Carolina
- Carly, Carlie
- Carmen
- Cara
- Carla, Carlotta
- Carissa
- Carina
- Carrie
- Carol
- Caren
We can also view Carys as a fresh spin on traditionals like Caroline and dated choices like Carol or Caren. She made our 25 Frills-Free Names for Girls list a few months back for precisely this quality. The “ys” ending is unusual, but still feminine.
As for that starbaby? Michael Douglas and his Welsh-born wife Catherine Zeta-Jones named their daughter Carys back in 2003. She’s upped the name’s visibility considerably. Choose Carys for your daughter today and chances are she’ll feel vaguely familiar to many, while still remaining rare.
We like Carys’ spare, but feminine, style. If you’re looking for a name that feels modern without being completely invented, this is a great option.
I’m one who falls into the Ceridwen from carydd, based on pronucation and the general inclination to switch i’s & y’s around. (not a new thing at all)
I like her look and don’t mind her sound at all. She’s pretty. A bit lightweight, which is why I generally end up putting her in the middle. (Why does Charis remind me of Scylla? Okay, weird assocation there, ignore me)
I think Carys is aweome, really. Pretty, spunky and sweet. And uncommon too! A real winner of a name. Carys get a big :thumbsup: from me. (I just suggested her to somebody somewhere online!)
I LOVE Carys, and I’m so glad to see it as name of the day. I’ve lurked on this site for a long time, but this inspired me to say something. What’s really funny is that I actually thought I made it up by combining my mom and mother-in-law’s names in looking for a name for a baby girl–then I found out the Welsh origins a little while ago. We’ll see if we use it…it’s in my top 3 right now, and we find out whether it’s a boy or a girl in the next few weeks.
What? I thought I suggested Carys! Hmph.
Yeah. I love this one. Love it, love it, love it. The only problem I have is that when I suggested it to my friend, she thought I was saying “Paris”. I would not want that mistake to be oft repeated! Paris (to me) is trite and tacky, thanks to Ms Hilton, but Carys still sounds fresh.
Another, I apologize – you may have! I still don’t have a great system to track all of this, so I usually only credit the person who suggests it when I actually add it to the calendar – an imperfect system.
And I did worry about the Paris rhyming issue. Even without Ms. Hilton, it feels like Paris might be trying a *bit* too hard as a name. With Ms. Hilton? It’s really problematic.
Carys though? I love Carys! If Arthur’s last name didn’t start with an S, I’d shortlist it.
Angie, how exciting! You’ll have to let us know if you’re knitting pink or blue booties.
BTW, Lola, I keep meaning to tell you how much I love your little Fifi icon!
I love Carys. It’s been on my list for a while, but some people might mispronounce it so I’d be better off saving it for a middle name.
I worry about the Paris issue too. Paris Hilton ruined that name for me, since she steals other celebs’ boyfriends and she thinks she can get what she wants cuz she’s rich. She comes across to me as a sl**. I never liked Paris as a name anyway, but Ms. Hilton made it worse.
Carys might also be mistaken for Paris, but otherwise, it’s a really cute, but sophisticated name.
Another & Laney, I sympathise! I’ve liked Paris on a boy since reading “Helen of Troy” and then that tramp had to come along!
*boo, hiss*
Thanks Verity. That’s the most recent tiny picture I have of her, from the beginning of spring. her hair is sooo much longer now! If I can make an adequate newer one, I shall.
I quite like this name.
Although i don’t think the correct pronounciation is “Car iss”, i know people named this and they pronounce it Keh riss.
I really like it. But I thought it was usually spelled Cerys and pronounced Kerris.
Actually, I’m stumped by what to say about the pronunciation.
The Welsh Language Board lists both Cerys and Carys as among the most popular names in use, but Carys has a slight edge – she’s #21 versus #29.
As for the vowel sound, I think the challenge is that the name is most common amongst people who speak a version of English that’s slightly different from American English. My best guess is that it should be KAHR iss with an “a” and KEHR iss with an “e” – but I think that most Americans *will* rhyme Carys with Paris. (I’ve only known one person with the name and she did rhyme hers with Paris. Then again, she spelled it with a K.)
In parts of the US, butchering vowel sounds is something of a hobby. I grew up with a funny regional accent myself – ask me to say Florida orange juice.
I like the look of Carys but really don’t like her harsh sound – the Welsh singer Cerys Matthews pronouces her name KEHR iss, and from what I can tell the Carys spelling is pronounced (at least in the couple of instances I’ve heard it used) as Verity indicated: KAHR iss.
My daughter was born in 2000 and we wanted her initials to be “ceo”. One of the names we found was Carys. We loved it, but no one in our family’s got it. We pronounce her name Carys like Paris,, but we are aware that the proper Welsh version is kher es. Later, we found out it meant love and grace (in greek) and the name fit her. The nice thing about her name is that everyone in her 450 person school knows her by name. It helps that she has a great personality. I love her name and wish everyone the best.
i love my name
I HATE it when people call me “Cerys”, its like calling someone called Alice Alicia or something, its different and really annoying!
I wish my last name didn’t begin with “S” as its sometimes hard for people to say
I love my name too!! And we all mean “love” in Welsh – Carys / Cerys is from ‘cariad’.
Cerys is a different take on Carys, but people don’t forget you – i think this is certainly helped by the unusual name. As to you lovely Carys’ being called Cerys, you should hear some of the mispronunciations us Cerys’ get!! Cerrise, Karen, Neris, Cherries..some have shortened my name to Ces, which I don’t mind, but is a shame they miss out on saying the beautiful full Welsh version. I take it as a challenge to spread the love through our name…it gets tiring sometimes when people get it wrong, but we just gotta let those poor people who are yet to have the joy of knowing one of us discover the wonder of Cerys / Carys!!!
By the way there is also the boys name Ceri / Ceridigg – king of Ceredigion in Wales.
Cerysxx
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