Iona - feedback from those who have the name or know someone with it

[Babanynamehelp2025]

Hi,

We are seriously considering the name Iona for a baby girl, but have two potential concerns that I would love feedback on, especially from people with the name, or who know people with the name (especially if you used it for your daughter!).

1. Are there a lot of pronunciation issues, and if so how bad / annoying are these? We would pronounce it the Scottish way (eye-own-a). My guess is that there wouldn’t be that many pronunciation issues in the UK but that there might be abroad. Is that the case and if so, how big an issue have you found that to be?
2. Even though it is short in terms of number of letters, it feels like it might be a bit of a mouthful to always use the full name. Have you found this and if so, what nicknames have you used? We like “Io” but it seems more appropriate for a teenager or adult than a baby and I’m struggling to think of any reasonable alternatives

Any general feedback on the name, especially on whether you like it and any other things worth considering also very welcome!!

For a bit more context, we have Scottish family so it feels appropriate for us to use it, and it works with our surname (i.e. our surname isn’t a noun). We are also aware that the name is pronounced differently in Wales.

Thanks so much for any inputs

Rum might be quite nice. Ronnie/Roni seems quite popular.

Direct experience. Never ever regretted the name choice. It’s beautiful, unusual enough to feel special without feeling bizarre, and never any pronunciation issues in UK. French find it a bit confusing, but that’s not a big deal.

I didn’t know about the cruise line - nobody has ever mentioned that. There is a Scottish Island of course, but it’s a beautiful Island. The name is also associated with peace and dove in other languages.

I still think it’s lovely - 15 years on, and the person with the name has never complained!

Iona bag
Iona dog....etc endless.

Can we stop saying that there's only one way to pronounce this name correctly? And that the Welsh way- Yonna- is a "mispronounciation?" They are two names derived from separate languages, pronounced differently, spelled the same. The Welsh one isn't wrong!

Thanks for the further feedback 🙏

On the concern that she might want to change her surname in the future then that’s a valid point which we hadn’t considered much so far. It doesn’t worry me too much though because I feel that she would always have a choice and could choose not to change her name if she wasn’t happy with the combination. I have friends who have chosen to change their names to objectively worse surnames that don’t go well with their first names because they wanted a joint family name and felt that was more important at that stage of life than having a name that “worked well”. And personally i’ve chosen not to change my name after marriage (our children have / will have my husband’s surname) because I didn’t want to.

@Mybabyloveswires sorry you had that difficult experience, kids are cruel 😅. We obviously need to weigh up the risk of similar bullying happening today. I’d hope that @LadyQuackBeth is right and times are different given the broader name variety these days, but I will discuss with husband and see where we get to.

@financialcareerstuff great to hear such a positive direct experience with the name 🙌

Keep the feedback coming!

I know two Alvins. Some people just don't get it & call them; Alvis, Elvis, Irwin, Albert, Alwyn, Albin, Alan. They find it quite funny.

My mums friends daughter is called Iona but she’s always been Nonie as a nickname. No issues pronouncing

I agree with people saying you must not be in Scotland as it’s a lovely name and I’ve never heard any issues with it ever. Absolutely no idea what people are on about in relation to cruise ships. This has actually put it up my short list as I forgot about how lovely a name it is.

I went to school with a girl by this name and she got called Iona willy. Ridiculous but that’s kids

I find that children today just accept someone's name for what it is their name. There is such a huge variety of names now one very school that nothing is unusual.
Bullies will find something to bully about and could probably find something odd about every name. It doesn't mean those names should be avoided

@Flatwhitefiend , MS Iona - Wikipedia
Several posters have mentioned it.

@Pinty There is such a huge variety of names now one very school that nothing is unusual. I wouldn't count on that. There's a wide variety, but the variety in one group might not be wide.

Love it was my first choice (had boys)

in wales it would be pronounced Yo-nah so bear that in mind.

cruise ship reference has gone right over my head.

My friend is an Iona, I've always loved the name and its not popular which is great. I call her Izzy but not many people NN her. Actually I call her Izzy Pop, no idea why 😅

I think it's a great name and know a child called Iona - no issues.

I did hear in the news that the new AI voice for scot rail is called 'Iona'.

I have one, she is 17 and never had an issue with people saying it wrong.
I love the name, its not very common where I live and we have never met another one.
She is generally called Ony (rhymes with pony), her cousin couldnt say Iona when she was little and used to follow her around shouting "Ony, Ony". And the name stuck!

Thank you so much for all the feedback it’s been so valuable, hugely appreciate it 🙏

The Iona Institute here in Ireland would put me off using the name.

I'm Scottish and know a few, you need to be super careful with the surname to avoid it sounding like "I own a Park" or "I own a Bell"

And, my real live example, my sister went to school with a girl called Iona Swan....😳.

I have a Welsh husband and Welsh grandad so I would instinctively pronounce it “Yonna” but your way is more phonetically obvious so I would easily remember your way once told.

It’s a horrible right wing religious group in Ireland so that’s all I think of when I hear it

I went to school with an Ione (eye-own-ee) never heard that name before or since and suited her

I've only read your posts OP, not all 4 pages. I work with a lovely Ilona. Just another option to consider if not already mentioned. Both it a Iona are lovely.

Not keen on Lo as a NN though! Are you pronouncing that like Low? That sounds sad and depressing! If you feel the NEED to have a NN, you might find something other than shortening her name comes up as an option- a characteristic etc.

I think it's a nice, perfectly normal name. I know several, of different ages and I've never heard of any difficulties with pronunciation.
And yes, there's currently a cruise liner called Iona. So what? Ships have been given female names for centuries. Lots of us probably share our names with ships or other inanimate objects - what's the problem?

@JDM625 , The 'nn' was Io, not Lo. It's pronounced 'Eye-o'.
Io (moon) - Wikipedia