Ione

[agentmillion]

What do you think of the name Ione (eye own ee)?

I think it is currently top of my list for DD3 with 3 weeks to go. I am slightly put off but the fact that I don't think many people will have heard of it and I will be constantly repeating it. Do you think it she would have problems with people knowing how to pronounce or spell it? It was the name of one of my Great Aunts and there are also distant cousins in my family with the name, so to me it is fairly normal, but DH had never really heard of it and feels it is a bit too unusual.

The other names on our shortlist are
Nina
Rosanna
Clara
Phoebe

[feehatesrain]

I love it, cant beat something a wee bit different.

[agentmillion]

Thank you. I want something a bit different but not so that it makes her life difficult.

[ppandj]

How do you feel about Iona? I know two and people seem to be ok with that for the most part.

[guiltynetter]

I wouldn't know how to say it. I said eye-own.

[JoMalones]

I like it but I read it as Lone (with lowercase L)

[JoMalones]

Or Leonie is nice too and not as unusual

[agentmillion]

I am not as keen on Iona, DH prefers it though. It is a bit too Scottish for me, we aren't Scottish, so I would feel a bit funny giving a very Scottish name. But I am probably overthinking that.

guilty that is what I am worried about, that she might spend a lifetime having to explain how to say/spell her name.

[TheDowagerCuntess]

I assumed it was pronounced Iona, kind of in a Germanic 'Heike' sort of way.

I definitely prefer Iona, but Ione is still a lovely choice.

[agentmillion]

Leonie is nice, but is a real mouthful with our surname.

The I does look like a lower case L when typed so I can see where you're coming from with that.

Names are so hard.

[DramaAlpaca]

I love it.

The other names on your list are nice too, especially Rosanna.

[MumOnACornishFarm]

Love it! Really beautiful. I also really like Clara. Congratulations OP.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Oh fab!! Love it. I worked in a callcentre and had a customer called Oenone once... I am still at how awesome that name is.

I think Ione sounds really pretty and it's v v cool too. It kind of fits with all the common pretty girls names that are around, but guarantee she'll probably never meet another.

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

I knew one once, but she spelled it
Ionie
She was awful, but it's a lovely name

[BrexitentialCrisis]

I love it, especially with Clara. If you were worried about pronunciation, could you name her Hermione and then shorten it for everyday? Everyone knows a certain miss grainger so hopefully would get the pronunciation really easily!

[caju]

I never worry too much about pronunciation, because most people who use a name will know the child and will know how to pronounce it after the first time. So you tell classmates/teachers once, then you're fine.

I have to admit though that I did click this thread wondering why anybody would call their child Lone!

[CeeCee00]

I think it's a great name. We nearly called our daughter 'io' (pronounced eye-oh) but had similar worries. Instead it's her middle name. I purposely write it with a lower case if typing as it's a little clearer. Unfortunately people have confused it with 'Lo', it's even mistakenly on her passport

Ione isn't as unusual as Io (to me anyway) so I'd hope you'd have an easier time with it, but people might not get it first time. I really think it's a gorgeous name though. Good luck with everything.

[agentmillion]

I would love to name her Hermione, it was one of my early suggestions, but DH is a definite no to that one.

I think it is pretty and cool and I love that it's a bit different but it's the problems that having a 'different' name might bring that also put me off. I think once people are used to it, it is quite straightforward really. It also appeals because it is a name that is in my family.

I think Rosanna is a close second at the moment.

[2ManySweets]

The singer Donovan named his daughter Ione Skye (she was briefly married to Shaun Ryder from the Happy Monday's I think).

Lovely name x

[PotOfYoghurt]

I really love it, and once people have heard it they'll be Abel to pronounce it just fine.

[PotOfYoghurt]

Not sure why my phone seems be religious. Able.

[agentmillion]

The Internet should use Times New Roman to make the 'I' clearer. I might start a campaign. I always write my capital 'I' with a line top and bottom, it is just typed online that it looks weird!

[badtime]

It made me think of Ione Skye too (she was a slightly famous actress in the late 80s and early 90s, in 'Say Anything' and at the beginning of 'Wayne's World').

[Raines100]

I like it. I didn't know how to pronounce it at first, but now I do because you've told me, and it's really that simple. Just accept the fact you'll have to repeat yourself the first time you tell anyone her name, and no one will spell it correctly unless they've been shown. I made peace with this before my dd arrived, as she also has a slightly unusual name.

Tbh my name is as simple as it gets, and nobody spells that right first time, so why care? You could chicken out and name her Phoebe only to find everyone spells that Pheobe. It's not a name that will be open to ridicule; it's pretty. I vote that you suit yourself.

[QueenJuggler]

badtime - really? She was married to one of the Beastie Boys, I'm sure, not Shaun.

[CourtJester]

I also read it as Eye-own originally. I know someone called Ionie (pronounced Eye-own-ee)

I prefer Iona (but it does kind of look like Loner, which i do not like at all!)