Una or Oonagh

[Jizzyjeff]

If you like this name, which spelling do you prefer?

We both love the sound of the name but disagree on the spelling. Happily dh is okay for me to ultimately get the spelling I want as he says I've done all the hard work... but I'm interested in opinion.

Baby will have part Irish heritage and the surname is double barrelled English name-Irish name, if that makes a difference.

I couldn’t get over the Per Una connection tbh.

Oonagh was Fionn McCool’s wife, who came up with the plan to disguise him as a Baby Giant to trick the Scottish Giant who had travelled over to challenge Fionn to a fight after coming across over the Giant’s Causeway.

I would spell it Una - the Una I know is Irish and my understanding is Una is the Irish spelling, and Oonagh is an anglicisation.

I've never known Una be pronounced as Yuna, it's not something the Una I know gets as a mispronunciation and she's lived in the UK for almost 20 years now.

I also know an Oonagh, from New Zealand and she said she gets the Una spelling a lot in the UK.

Yoona is because of the actress Una Stubbs, who pronounces her name wrongly like that and she's the only famous person with the name so people think that's how you say it.

I do pronounce Uno like yoono! Like unique or union.
I would also pronounce Una like that but not Oonagh.
I prefer Una but that's because I slightly prefer that pronunciation.

I’ve only heard Una (as a girls name rather than a spanish word) pronounced Yoona so would assume there will be at least some confusion over pronunciation so I guess it’s either worry about spelling or pronunciation. If you’re concerned then maybe another name might be preferable but if you like it just go for it.

I always thought Una was the anglicised version.

I am clearly really crap at researching and history 🙈

Úna is the Irish spelling. Oona is the anglicised version. Oonagh is the more modern, notiony spelling that is throwing in a bit of Irish with the "agh".

That said, even though I would normally go for the Irish spelling, I think Úna is a bit old fashioned but Oonagh is very pretty.

Una is cute. Most people, certainly her peers, won't know who Una Stubbs was anymore so I wouldn't worry about that. She's lovely but quite old now.

Oonagh doesn't look as pretty as it sounds and I'm not sure it's actually authentic, is it?

Our elderly neighbour is Una- pronounced Yoona.

Could you spell it Oona instead?

Can’t imagine many people would assume it’s pronounced yoona. Maybe you could do a poll on that. Una definitely, I’m sorry but oonagh looks ugly

I was always told that Una was pronounced Yuna.

There's definitely more than one pronunciation.

@Eleoura

Our elderly neighbour is Una- pronounced Yoona.

Could you spell it Oona instead?

That looks like the pizza oven!

I've always thought Oonagh looks comedic/ridiculous. Just a big fat NO to that spelling for me.

Una is the authentic Irish spelling, if that's a factor for you, and it just looks nicer. A million and one of them throughout Ireland, but am yet to encounter an Irish Oonagh.

I would pronounce it You-na as have a friend that pronounces her name that way. No Irish heritage but not English.

Ins

*una

@idontlikealdi

Oonagh never known it any other way. NI parents.

No offence to people from NI but in my experience they're the most likely to favour 'creative' spellings for Irish names. I think it must be a combo of not learning Irish in school but wanting a distinctly Irish name, so the spelling can sometimes go off piste with random vowels and fadas added in.

What's the consensus on Jasmine or Scarlett?? Una is a feckin minefield and my already heat shrunken brain is struggling to cope 🤣

Jasmine and Scarlett are both good names

Phew!

Una. Per Una, uno, yoona.

Oona. Simple to spell, pronounce.

Oonagh. Difficult to spell, people might butcher the pronunciation, bit clunky.

Una. Carries well internationally as well. It's far easier to correct the pronunciation the first time you meet someone, than teaching them how to spell a name they've never seen written down before. Speaking from experience here. There's also a smaller chance of people mispronouncing Una, than there is of them asking several times how to spell Oonagh, or seeing it written down and mispronouncing anyway. When I first moved to the UK, I had no idea -gh is silent at the end of a name. I would've said Oo-nah-gue. With a harsh G at the end, yes. 90% of my international friends in London would've said the same.

I actually like the suggestion of Oona. But honestly, if you love Oonagh that much more, just use it.

I like both Jasmine and Scarlett! And Una!

Jasmine Scarlett.
Sorted!

Una wil be pronounce yoona by most English speakers - think unique, uniform, Unilever, universe, unilateral, university, unicycle, unanimous etc etc etc. She'd be correcting people her entire life. German speakers would be OK with it, though.

If you want the /oo/ sound go with Oonagh.