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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Nina or Iona

88 replies

Peridotty · 08/05/2020 18:06

Currently 37 weeks pregnant! Which one is better? A couple of people have said Iona is a bit of a mouthful or don’t know how to pronounce it. Three people thought it was Loner! I like both but maybe Nina more because it is short and sweet. Husband prefers Iona. Thank you.

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toughgetsgoing · 11/05/2020 11:16

Iona. Nina's nice too, feistier

Carouselfish · 09/05/2020 21:28

Prefer Nina, largely as Iona is a running joke in our house from an 'Overheard in Waitrose' type incident.

lakeswimmer · 09/05/2020 21:16

Nina - one of my favourite names

Flashinggreen · 09/05/2020 20:54

Nina

Onceuponatimethen · 09/05/2020 20:52

Love both, for me Iona is the most beautiful

ChanklyBore · 09/05/2020 20:49

Just for the amount of single words I yell at my kids right now, I prefer Nina.

NINA, TOILET! works better than IONA, TOILET! when you bellow it down the stairs because they have “forgotten” to clean or flush the toilet for the eleventy-billionth time.

mabel92 · 09/05/2020 20:44

Iona. The Island is beautiful and peaceful if that helps with the choice.

MikeUniformMike · 09/05/2020 20:31

It is Scottish and not overused. You'll probably start a trend.

passthemustard · 09/05/2020 19:01

Nina is lovely. Not keen on the other but that's only my opinion

Original poster
Peridotty · 09/05/2020 17:38

I would pronounce it the Scottish way- Eye oh na rather than The welsh way!
I grew up in Scotland but moved to the USA last year, hence name is not well known here. Family live in England... not so many Ionas there either!
My husband is keen to have something Scottish and a bit unique.

OP posts:
Roselilly36 · 09/05/2020 17:09

Nina

MikeUniformMike · 09/05/2020 17:08

I know several Ionas. All January babies and over 50. The a is like a in cat, mat etc not uh.

I too am surprised that Iona would be confusing. I'd have thought the island was quite well-known for the Abbey.

JKScot4 · 09/05/2020 15:17

I have an Iona, all my DC have Scottish names as we have a Scottish surname.
Completely mystified by ppl who are struggling with pronunciation.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 09/05/2020 14:15

The scottish version is much prettier.

Personally I like the Welsh version better.

But @MikeUniformMike has the pronunciation pretty close with Yonn-ah.

daisypond · 09/05/2020 12:25

I prefer Nina by quite a lot. Iona is fine, though.

4amWitchingHour · 09/05/2020 12:23

I went to school with an Iona (with the Scottish pronunciation) - would love to use it but surname won't allow. I also know a Nina in her 40s - can definitely be an adult name!

Prefer Iona of the two.

MikeUniformMike · 09/05/2020 12:14

The scottish version is much prettier.

BikeRunSki · 09/05/2020 12:11

The Scottish version of Iona is pronounced like the island; Eye Own A

MikeUniformMike · 09/05/2020 12:10

The welsh name Iona is usually pronounced Yonn-ah. It's a fairly modern (20th century) name given to girls born in January.

WomanIsTaken · 09/05/2020 12:01

Nina is chic.
Iona is whimsical.
Both are gorgeous and work on adult women.

justdontatme · 09/05/2020 11:58

Nina

Nonnymum · 09/05/2020 11:56

I prefer Iona. Nina is a perfectly fine name but just not to my taste.

LotusClover · 09/05/2020 11:54

Strongly dislike both. Even if your surname isn't a noun, Iona still sounds like "I own a-". For that reason alone I would go for Nina.

Zana2222 · 09/05/2020 10:09

I like Nina best

FeedMeSantiago · 09/05/2020 10:05

Was coming to ask the same question as Mumoftwoyoungkids.

Iona is pronounced Yonna in Wales, January in Welsh is Mis Ionawr, so Iona is sometimes used for January babies.

Iona as in Eye oh na is nice too, but may need to be avoided depending on surname. You can imagine the comments Iona Hunt would get for example.