Aina

[Yakalaka]

Pronounced Eye-na.

Pretty alternative to Isla/Ava etc or a no go? Opinions please :)

It's quite nice, but I think a lot of people would think it was pronounced Ay-na at first.

It’s ok but looks a bit ‘unfinished’ for me (sorry if it’s a non English name, in which case ignore me!)

Prefer Anais if looking for alternatives in that sort of vein.

Oh and also assumed AY-na rather than EYE-na.

pretty.
I pronounce it eye na

but I would imagine pronunciation could be a issue

I would assume it was Ay-na if I saw it written down, and that is too close to “Anus” for comfort.

That was my gran’s name, except it was spelt Ina, quite common is Scotland in her generation. It was usually the shortened form of a feminised male name, like Thomasina or Robina.

Yep. Just stick with Ina if you want it pronounced that way.

Reminds me of anus - sorry

I would think it was an alternative spelling of Aine, the Irish name (pronounced Onya) - which is also nice and similar to the others you mention.
Otherwise I’d pronounce it Ayna from that spelling.

Also people will just confuse it with Ania

Oh dear, I'm another one who initially misread it as "anal". Sorry OP!

ANAL.

I'd also think it was a different spelling of Aine and pronounce it the same - kind of like awn-yah.

Means 'mirror' in my first language. Sounds nice to my ears though.

I also assumed it was Irish origin with an awn-ya pronunciation.

How about Iona?

I’d presume it was Aine spelt wrong!

I would pronounce it eye-ee-nah!

Too close to anus and anal, sorry

Another one who thought it was an attempt at a 'yooneek' spelling of the Irish name Aine - which is pronounced awn-ya, not on-ya. And yes, I know it has a fada (accent) on the A, but I can't do it on my tablet.

On-ya was a quick attempt at conveying the pronounciation (ie not at all how the name looks). I don’t agree there’s a lot of difference. In my accent (not Irish) there is v little difference between On-ya and Awn-ya.

Feels a little old fashioned to me, I associate it with older women, perhaps Finnish ;) (am Swedish). So maybe is ripe for a comeback?

I like it. No closer to anal than Anna or Alan surely or any other 'an' names surely?

If I saw 'Aina' I'd assume it was pronounced ay-na.

If you want to call her Ina, why not just call her Ina? It's a perfectly good name.

It made me think anus immediately but probably because I was pronouncing it wrong in my head (Ay-nuh)