I was recently intrigued by a quirk that would probably only interest a name nerd. A middle-aged friend mentioned her mother’s name as being [name]Una[/name] [name]Kay[/name], [name]Una[/name] pronounced YOO-na, giving the double name the pronunciation YOO-na-kay. This led me to wonder if it was actually the name [name]Eunice[/name] in its more Greek spelling, [name]Eunike[/name], until I asked for the spelling. Then I started wondering about this pronunciation of [name]Una[/name]. When I first saw the name in print I thought of it as being pronounced YOO-na but was later corrected to OO-na. Determined to get to the bottom of this, today I consulted my biggest baby name book, which contains pronunciations. Interestingly, the name is entered under three categories: Irish (pronunciation OO-na); Hopi [name]Indian[/name] (pronunciation OO-na, meaning “remembrance”); and Scottish (pronunciation YOO-na). If anyone has any thoughts, opinions or clarifications, I’d be greatly appreciative. [name]Una[/name] is a little name with a lot of character, in my opinion, and for any [name]Anne[/name] of [name]Green[/name] Gables fans out there, I think [name]Una[/name] [name]Meredith[/name] (introduced in “[name]Rainbow[/name] [name]Valley[/name]”) is nearly a perfect personification of the name.
I would pronounce it OO-na. I think it sounds better with that pronunciation but that just one persons opinion.
I’d pronounce it OO-na, as well.
I’d pronounce it [name]OOna[/name] like the Spanish word for one. But I think the linguistic term for what may be going on here is yod-dropping. Other examples of this are in names like [name]Julia[/name] (Joo lee a or Jyoo lee a?) and others, and in words like duty (dyoo tee in British English, but doo tee in American English). Not sure that technically applies here, but it at least seems related.
All best!
OO-na, for sure…
[name]Ever[/name] since [name]Rainbow[/name] [name]Valley[/name] I have wondered how to pronounce this name! I too started with YOO-na and then settled on OO-na. I think the latter is more appealing.
I would pronounce in Oo-na. There’s a character on Stardust with that name and that’s how it was pronounced for her. It’s also the Spanish word (feminine form) for “one” and is pronounced oo-na 
Thanks for all the thoughts so far! Thank you, Jesba, for the Wikipedia link. That’s fascinating. The OO-na/YOO-na discrepancy does seem related to the issue of yod-dropping among English-speakers in different places. Now I’m wondering about yod-dropping in Scottish English, especially since I talked to our friend again. [name]Una[/name] [name]Kay[/name] was named by her father, whose heritage was Scottish/Belgian!
Here in [name]Ireland[/name] we pronounce it Oo-na
Thank you, lucykate, that’s good to know. Now I have a couple of confirmations that the pronunciations in my book are correct!
[name]Glad[/name] you enjoyed the yod-dropping reading! There was once a lengthy discussion here I was in about whether [name]Junia[/name] and [name]Junior[/name] sound totally like each other or only sort of like each other, based on accent. For me, they’re only kind of similar - I’m American, so the r in [name]Junior[/name] is really “loud” (rhotic?), and also the first name is Joo-nee-a while the second is Jyoo nyer. It’s the sort of thing that doesn’t matter for the vast majority of names but then really has potential to make a big difference in a few cases.
In parts of the US there’s h-dropping before non-yod-dropped u (human becomes yooman, humid is yoomid, humor is yoomor etc. - there’s not too many words this really affects), and I’ve always wondered what they do with the names [name]Hugh[/name] and [name]Hugo[/name] there - if it applies (You and Yoogo?) - or if they’re exempt.
All best!
One of my Grandmother’s was named [name]Una[/name] (you-nah) [name]Adella[/name], she was from an island in the Carribean so Im not sure if thats how they said it there or how we pronounced it anglicized. She did primarily speak Spanish and since that’s the way she told me her name was said, Im assuming thats how they said it but I cant be sure.
Thanks for the new thoughts! I’m now intrigued by the Caribbean Spanish pronunciation, especially since I’m under the impression that most Spanish-speakers pronounce U with no yod. I wonder if Caribbean Spanish has exceptions, or if the name came from a non-Spanish/Caribbean ancestor, or if the pronunciation was indeed Anglicized! All these quirks…thanks for your interest, everyone!
I know a 3-yo [name]Oona[/name], spelled like that. Characterful name!
I honestly dont know, her father was British officer so part of her name/culture was English. She told me the US some how messed up her name (I never really understood what happened) but maybe it was once [name]Yuna[/name] and they mispelled it as [name]Una[/name]? I think [name]Una[/name] would make an “ooh na” sound too. All I know is that she started going by [name]Della[/name] when she got to the states in 1950 because according to her they made her change her name.
Interesting! Thanks for following up, txbelle. It would probably be totally fascinating to research what has happened to immigrants’ names over the years. I know many people had to, or found it more convenient to, change or at least Anglicize their names. Thanks also, namestory. I prefer the [name]Una[/name] spelling, but [name]Oona[/name] certainly has the advantage of excluding pronunciation confusion! Without that confusion, though, I would never have started this discussion. I’m surely enjoying it.
Oo-na is how i would prn it.