girl's name
Iona
eye-OH-nuh
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 20,602
Scotland
#85
2024 births
Iona is a girl's name taken from the Hebridean island where Columba founded his monastery — and the island's name exists because a medieval scribe misread a letter. It ranks 85th in Scotland.
- Iona is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 1918, when 404 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 51,007 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Iona over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 224 |
| 1890s | 455 |
| 1900s | 838 |
| 1910s | 2,362 |
| 1920s | 3,151 |
| 1930s | 1,747 |
| 1940s | 887 |
| 1950s | 610 |
| 1960s | 290 |
| 1970s | 198 |
| 1980s | 139 |
| 1990s | 126 |
| 2000s | 310 |
| 2010s | 543 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 381 |
What Iona means
Iona has no meaning of its own. It is a place name, and the place name is an error: the island was Ioua, and a copyist's misreading of u as n produced Iona, which then stuck for eight hundred years.
Where Iona comes from
Iona is the small island off Mull where Columba landed from Ireland in 563 and founded the monastery that became the center of Christianity in Scotland and northern England — Aidan went from Iona to Lindisfarne, and the Book of Kells was very likely begun there. Adomnán, writing Columba's life around 700, calls the island Ioua, whose own derivation is uncertain. In medieval manuscripts the letters u and n are near-identical, and a scribe copying Ioua wrote Iona; the mistake spread and was never corrected, helped by Iona looking like a plausible Latin form and by the coincidental resemblance to the Hebrew Jonah, meaning dove, which is what Columba's own name means in Latin. That resemblance was noticed early and treated as significant, which probably sealed the error. The Gaelic name for the island is Ì Chaluim Chille, Columba's island.
Iona in use
Iona ranks 85th in Scotland with 50 births in 2024 and 525th in England and Wales, and our records mark it reviving from a peak in 1918 — a vintage name returning rather than a new one. Our records carry it from 1880. Outside Britain it is rare: 2,684th in the United States, 601st in Ireland, despite the island's Irish foundation.
How popular is Iona?
In 2025, Iona was given to 65 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Iona is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Iona
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Iona also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Iona over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Iona in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Italian
- Ione
Sibling names for Iona
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Iona — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Iona
What does the name Iona mean?
Nothing in itself — it is the island's name, and that name came from a scribe misreading Ioua as Iona.
Is Iona related to Jonah?
No, but the resemblance was noticed early and probably helped the misreading survive. Jonah is Hebrew for dove.
Why is Iona important?
Columba founded his monastery there in 563, and it became the center of Christianity in Scotland and northern England.
How popular is Iona?
Eighty-fifth in Scotland and 525th in England and Wales.
Is Iona a girl's or a boy's name?
Iona is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Iona?
Iona has 3 syllables.
Is Iona a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Iona currently ranks #85 in the United States. After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.