Oonagh, Francesca or Nuala?

[Koalafications]

DH and I are struggling to find girl names that we can both agree on.

What are your thoughts on these three?

I know that Oonagh and Nuala are going to have some challenges with spelling and pronunciation.

Oonagh is the sound a bloke makes when they're kicked in the balls.

Francesca is nice, though.

And I quite like Nuala too.

Francesca can be shortened to Frankie, Fran, Chesca all of which are nice as in school kids never seem to use full names!
Don't like the other two at all. They will be mispronounced all the time.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

It seems to be quite split!

I quite like Oonagh but your description of it made me laugh Clash. I prefer it spelt Una.

Not sure about Nuala - it's pretty but could be a headache with pronunciation.

I love Francesca, it's one of my favourites so I would definitely go for that. FWIW, I think they're all good names though.

Love both Oonagh and Nuala - prefer latter. Franscesca sounds a bit snobbish

Francesca is my favourite by a long way, not keen on the others, they sound a little bit dated to me.

I like Nuala and Francesca. Like Oonagh but not that spelling - Oona or Una is nicer.

I don't like 'Una' as it looks more Spanish than Irish.

But I can see that Oonagh isn't the prettiest spelling.

In Ireland the spelling Úna is far more popular than Oonagh. To be honest I don't think I've ever met anyone who spells it Oonagh. Know hundreds of Únas though.

Nuala is hideous. Definitely the Irish equivalent of calling your daughter Mavis.

Francesca - nice and I love Frankie on a girl.

I know a few Oonagh's but no Una's so maybe that's why I'm not so keen.

The comparison of Nuala to Mavis is making me like it even more.

Francesca by a mile - more elegant, more versatile, not so harsh.

Second would be Una spelled like that. Have you considered Ursula?

Nuala is horrid I'm afraid - like so many names with too much of a harsh 'ooo' or 'eee' sound in them - just sounds ugly and barky. Not at all like Doris or Mavis to me, which have a quirkiness to them at least! 'Noo-luh' just isn't a nice set of sounds to pin on your baby.

Nina

Nia

instead of Nuala?

Ooh ooh I've never seen my own name on a MN baby names thread and now it's finally happened (it's the balls kicking one)

So exciting. Carry on everyone.

Puppy do you like your name? (I, of course, love it) do you have the 'easier' spelling or the more traditional spelling?

Oonagh isn't grammatically correct in Irish - you don't have two identical vowels together. To lengthen the sound you need the fada. So Oonagh is not a traditional Irish spelling. As squoosh said, pretty much all the Únas in Ireland spell their name that way.

I think Úna is a lovely name.

Round here Una would be pronounced "Yewna". Oonagh would be pronounced with a " ooo" sound.

You do know that Úna is the traditional spelling and Oonagh the anglicisation?

Oona is my daughters name, it is beautiful, not 'awful' or 'truly awful' as some posters have helpfully commented

she gets lots of compliments on it, I'm aware there are variations on its spelling, and pronunciation (Una tends to be 'yoona' softer sound)

She's never been told she has a 'barky' name either

Think you should disregard the dislike posters have over an 'oo' sound in a name...

Yesterday I stated that Gráinnes are by and large a shady lot. True fact.

I should counter this by saying that in my experience Únas tend to be good people. It's a very common name for Irish women in their 30's and 40's.

It's the tricky spelling Koala.

Hated it all the way through childhood, just wanted a normal name like Marie or Karen. I live in England not Ireland so it is very very unusual here. I'm 48 and have never met another one in person.

But now, I quite like it, makes me stand out from the crowd. I have to explain it every single day, which can be a bit annoying. But once people get it, they never forget me.

The only prob I've had is that a few official documents (including my first driving licence) came though addressed to Donagh. Because the office couldn't believe I really meant two Os at the beginning, so decided to change it.? quite a pain getting them changed...

Joyce Una is only pronounced yoou-na in Scotland. But its origin is Irish and in Ireland Úna is definitely pronounced oo-na.

If you don't like Una I'd use Oona. The gh on the end makes it look a bit....I don't know, fussy. I have a young relative who has an Irish name with a gh spelling on the end and it is a nightmare. Her mum regrets spelling it like that now and wishes she'd gone for the more conventional spelling. Lots of mispronunciation as well....I don't want to say her name but she's had people pronounce the gh on the end instead of it being silent, so for example if her name was Oonagh they'd pronounce it oo-nag. Not pretty.

Yes, I did squoosh. I don't think my post to Puppy was clear though. I didn't know how to word it.

at them correcting the spelling of your name.

I like Oonagh as there is only one pronunciation (that I am aware of anyway!) my name is pronounced differently by different cultures and it has always irritated me as when people say it the 'other way' it doesn't sound like my name! Another reason why the Una spelling puts me off...