Name of the Week: Iona

Origin:

Iona is the name of a picturesque Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides. The island is most famous for its Abbey, which was founded by Saint Columba in 563, and was the focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland. One of the oldest Christian religious centres in Western Europe, Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three centuries. Iona is also known for its sandy beaches and wildlife -- including whales, dolphins, seals, otters and vast array of birdlife. The name Iona is the anglicised form of Ioua, the adjectival name for the island found in Adomnán's Vita Columbae (c. 700). The u was misread as n (attest as early as 1274) and the form Iona became standard. William J. Watson argues that this error likely "gained currency from the remark of Adamnan on Columba's name, which he says is in Hebrew Iona (Jonah), a dove."* The nominative form of the island's name was Eo (later Ì, Hi and Ia in Gaelic), which corresponds to the Old Irish eo "yew". Adomnán may have derived his adjectival for Ioua from the Gaulish Ivova meaning "yew-place."  The yew tree was held sacred by the Druids who observed how yews were able to form new trunks when branches of the old tree touched the ground. Thus, the yew tree came to symbolise resurrection in Celtic culture.  The fact that Iona's name means "yew-place" demonstrates that it was considered to be a sacred place long before Scotland was Christianised.  Confusingly, the Gaelic form Ì (derived from Old Irish eo "yew") also came to be used as a Scottish Gaelic noun meaning"island" which is why you may sometimes find Iona's meaning listed as "island."  Other names for the island include Ì Chaluim Chille "Columba's Iona" and Ì nam ban bòidheach "the isle of beautiful women." In Wales, Iona is also used as a derivative of Ionawr, the Welsh name for January.

Usage:

There are a small number of Latin baptism records from the 16th century with the name Iona but this is almost certainly a Latinised form of Joan.*  Iona came into use in its own right at the beginning of the 19th century alongside other Scottish island names such as Isla and Ailsa. Births records for Iona:   Scotland England and Wales 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: --- --- 2 births 0 births 3 births 6 births 9 births 11 births 21 births 41 births 54 births 78 births 185 births 241 births 0 births 1 birth 4 births 8 births 20 births 29 births 45 births 48 births 136 births 152 births 242 births 216 births 425 births 302 births From the 1930s, Iona was most commonly used in Wales (94 births in Wales, 58 in England and 41 births in Scotland in the 1930s; 132 births in Wales, 110 in England and 54 in Scotland in the 1940s). This high use in Wales is most likely because it was used as a variant of Ionawr, the Welsh name for January. It is notable that the January-March quarter was when the highest number of Ionas were registered in Wales. Ionawr itself was also used occasionally as a given name, and always in the first annual quarter.  By the 1980s, Iona grew in use in Scotland, reaching the top 100 for the first time in 1994 at #81 (74 births). Iona has been in the Scottish top 100 ever since.  In 2018, Iona ranked #56 with 83 births.    Click to enlarge In England and Wales, Iona has been in moderate use since 1996, peaking at #199 with 210 births in 2000.   Click to enlarge In 2017, Iona ranked #394 with 113 births.  Regional data from 2017, however, shows that Iona is greatly varied in use. It is most common in the North East and Yorkshire and did not rank in the data for Wales at all: N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales #191  #446  #266  #377  #564  #680  #419  #491  #272  -- Iona ranked at joint 12th place in the Telegraph birth announcements in 2017.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Olivia Iona Louise Langdon (1845-1904), wife of American novelist Mark Twain. Contemporary: * Iona Campagnolo (b. 1932), the 27th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. * Iona Brown, OBE (1941-2004), British violinist and conductor. * Iona Wynter (b.1968), Jamaican cyclist. Literature and Other Media: * Iona, a character in film Pretty in Pink. * Iona MacLean, a character on TV series Monarch of the Glen. * Iona McNair, a character in Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis.

Variants:

Ivova

Pronunciation:

ī-Ō-nə (UK) EE-ō-na (Welsh) [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Nonie, Io

Sibling Names:

Orla     Thea     Niamh     Cora     Ada     Lena  Arthur     Rory     Angus     Blake    Fraser     Lyle

Name Lists:

Ripe Renovations

 

If you like Iona you may also like:   Ailsa, Isla, Cliona, Morven, Clova, Skye, Robyn, Bonnie, Flora, Olive

Thanks to Elizabeth for requesting this name.