Most common way to say Ione (in English)
I can't seem to get to the bottom of this. What is the MOST COMMON way to pronounce Ione in English-speaking places? I've heard several possible answers, including:1) EYE-uh-nee; exactly like Hermione without the herm; starting with a long i
2) EYE-own-nee; with a distinct o sound in the middle; like "I own E", starting with a long i
3) EE-own-nee or EE-uh-nee; starting with a short i
4) EYE-own or EE-own; with no e sound at the end
vote up1vote down

Replies

My names ione and you say it as eye own nee
vote up1vote down
My name is Ione, nobody ever gets it right � it is pronounced as seen in no. 2) eye-own-ee
My parents got it out of a Greek name book. I am Autralian with an English background. Hope that's helpful!
vote up1vote down
My grandmother born 1920 was known by eye-own-uh although the spelling is Ione. Hope that helps.
vote up1vote down
Make a poll, you'll get more responses. But it probably also depends on where you are; I've heard eye-OWN here in the NW US.
vote up1vote down
Eye-OH-nee.I pronounce it Eye-OH-nee and I've lived in the UK all my life.
vote up1vote down
ditto
vote up1vote down
EYE-own-nee is the pronunciation I prefer.EYE-own sounds like "I own" as in "I own a car" so I really wouldn't use that pronunciation.I think in Greek it would be pronounced EE-o-neh
vote up1vote down
I think it's generally a 2-syllable pronunciation in the United States and a 3-syllable one in the UK.
vote up1vote down
There's a town called Ione up north a bit...(m)...and it's pronounced eye-OWN by the locals. I can't speak for other places, though, because a lot of these pronunciations are regional. It's kind of like the pronunciation difference between the state Nevada (as nev-AH-duh) or the town Nevada (neh-VAY-duh).
*Edit* This is all in the USA, by the way.

This message was edited 8/25/2008, 11:53 AM

vote up1vote down
The one person I've known called Ione pronounced it Eye-OH-nee, like Iona but with an "ee" sound at the end. The stress is on the middle syllable. This is in England.
vote up1vote down
I've only ever known one Ione, and she was very firm about the pronunciation! Only eye-OWN-ee would do.
vote up1vote down
The only person I've met named Ione pronounced it eye-OHN.
vote up1vote down
This^I've not seen this name more than once, but she was living in the UK but with parents (or grandparents) from idk... elsewhere? I don't even know where. She was a tan girl with a possibly Asian surnameShould say that she had a British accent, but her parents had something of an accent

This message was edited 2/21/2020, 2:13 PM

vote up1vote down
Yes...The only person I know with this name (the mother of a friend, making her age 60-65 at least) was eye-OWN. This is in the U.S.; I don't know if other pronunciations are more common in the UK, etc.
vote up1vote down
For what it's worth, the girl I know is probably 19-20, also in the US.
vote up1vote down
There are two according to this website: eye-OH-nee and eye-OHN.
vote up1vote down
.

This message was edited 2/24/2019, 2:07 PM

vote up1vote down