Iolanthe

anna7602

A little crazy, I know, but what do you think in general? It's a very little-used version of Yolanda, a family name on both sides of my family. It might be because all the Yolandas in my family were so old and powdery by the time I was born, but the name Yolanda itself doesn't do it for me. However, I like the symbolism of it.

It would be for the mn spot, definitely not a first name contender.

Feel free to weigh in on Yolanda, too, in case I ever change my mind.

moxie9

I love it, especially for a middle name (no future concerns about pronunciation or spelling to worry about). It's lovely.

brooklynesque

I like it.

ObLaDi

Love it!

I don't care for Yolanda either--nice upgrade :-)

Moxie27

i'm not entirely sure how to pronounce this, but i don't think i'd like it.

PhilsWife07

How do you pronounce it?

 

Not a fan of Yolanda. 

dojo1

I know this ridiculous, but all I can think of is "lol".  If I had to read the name outloud, I'd probably pronounce it "low-AN-tha" 

sadie890

DO-JO:

I know this ridiculous, but all I can think of is "lol".  

  I thought this too! However, how I am pronouncing in my head ( not too sure if it's right or not) sounds really nice! 

As for Yolanda, I'm not a fan. I much prefer Yolande It just sounds softer IMO.

 If you are thinking for a mn, I would go with Iolanthe out of the three (I'm counting Yolande) if you love it  

alliejo725

Perfectly suited for a middle name. It looks lovely spelled out, but it'd be hard to live with as a first name.

AlphabetFish

What? This is, um... I'm sorry, what? Io... Iolan...

The educated part of my brain says it's cool and pretty, but the kneejerk, lizard brain part of me is having to stare at it for a bit. As a middle name, though, sure, why not!

Yolanda is not a good name to me, but then I knew people I didn't care for who carried this name.

anna7602

DO-JO:

I know this ridiculous, but all I can think of is "lol".  If I had to read the name outloud, I'd probably pronounce it "low-AN-tha" 

It's a capital "i" at the beginning, not an L. But I had this issue with another "i" name that has lower case L's in it, so I guess I should have expected it.

 

abbyful

At first glance I see "loathe".

PhilsWife07

anna7602:

DO-JO:

I know this ridiculous, but all I can think of is "lol".  If I had to read the name outloud, I'd probably pronounce it "low-AN-tha" 

It's a capital "i" at the beginning, not an L. But I had this issue with another "i" name that has lower case L's in it, so I guess I should have expected it.

 

Would still love to know how to pronounce it. 

anna7602

mj.reilly:

PhilsWife07:

Would still love to know how to pronounce it. 

Behind the name says:

ie-?-LAN-thee 

Meaning & History

Probably a variant of YOLANDA influenced by the Greek words ???? (iole) "violet" and a???? (anthos) "flower". This name was (first?) used by Gilbert and Sullivan in their comic opera 'Iolanthe' (1882).

And you can listen to it here:

https://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Iolanthe

 

OP: I like it.

MJ- that computerized voice is a little scary.

Phil's wife- I was actually pronouncing it with the i + o running into each other so it sounds more like "y," kind of how I pronounce my DD's name with a -ya at the end instead of ee-uh as many English speakers seem to do.

I also made the final e more like -eh instead of -ee, as the computerized voice does.

In any event, both pronunciations I have in mind are difficult for me to spell out phonetically, so the computer man & MJ's ref. to behind the name serve as a good guide.