Don't let the names put you off Earthsea - because there are far fewer ideas, there are far fewer new words. Names, very little else. I wouldn't want to hazard whether you'd find 'em ugly or not (I dislike most of the Left Hand of Darkness you mentioned, but find Tolkien's languages beautiful), but for me, they stuck out much less than in LHoD.

You might be a bit put off by the simplicity of it, especially the first one. I found they gained in interest and power substantially as I kept reading (books three and four were my favorites).