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ArchivesAccent on Una?
Both Oxygen.com's Babynamer (http://snipurl.com/aoso) and Edgar's Name Pages (http://snipurl.com/aosq) says Una is sometimes spelled with an accent, which ENP says is Úna. (When Oxygen.com reformatted their pages, they for some reason lost the ability to display accents properly. I don't know why.)
Does anyone know if Una is indeed spelled Úna in Ireland? Even sometimes? And is Una and Una pronounced the same?
Miranda
Does anyone know if Una is indeed spelled Úna in Ireland? Even sometimes? And is Una and Una pronounced the same?
Miranda
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Replies
Aaah ... This is a messy one.
There is an Irish name Úna and a Scottish one Úna (no difference in writing). They are forms of the same name, of course, but are pronounced differently. It's the same concept as Charles being "charlz" in English and "sharl" in French.
The Irish name Úna is pronounced OO-na. The usual Anglicized forms are Una, Oona and Oonagh, all still pronounced OO-na.
In Scottish Gaelic, the name Úna is pronounced YOO-na, and the Anglicized forms are generally Una (in this case, YOO-na) and Euna (which makes the pron. clearer, obviously).
Even more confusingly, with Ireland and Scotland being so intertwined name-wise anyway, you do get both pronunciations in both countries and unless one of the clear spellings (Oona(gh) or Euna) is used, your guess is as good as mine and you just have to guess or ask.
So the answer to your original question is: Yes, Úna is the original Gaelic form but Una is a legit Anglicization and not just the omission of an accent (like Rónán being Anglicized as Ronan).
There is an Irish name Úna and a Scottish one Úna (no difference in writing). They are forms of the same name, of course, but are pronounced differently. It's the same concept as Charles being "charlz" in English and "sharl" in French.
The Irish name Úna is pronounced OO-na. The usual Anglicized forms are Una, Oona and Oonagh, all still pronounced OO-na.
In Scottish Gaelic, the name Úna is pronounced YOO-na, and the Anglicized forms are generally Una (in this case, YOO-na) and Euna (which makes the pron. clearer, obviously).
Even more confusingly, with Ireland and Scotland being so intertwined name-wise anyway, you do get both pronunciations in both countries and unless one of the clear spellings (Oona(gh) or Euna) is used, your guess is as good as mine and you just have to guess or ask.
So the answer to your original question is: Yes, Úna is the original Gaelic form but Una is a legit Anglicization and not just the omission of an accent (like Rónán being Anglicized as Ronan).
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I know it's definitely sometimes spelt with an accent, but I don't know if it changes the pronounciation at all.
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