411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Nina
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Appendix:Variations of "nina"
English
Etymology
Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of en ru Ни́на, the name of a Georgian saint in the fourth century, also known as Nino, of obscure origin and meaning, possibly connected with the Assyrian king Ninus. Others are of an en it - short form of diminutives like it Annina from it Anna and it Giovannina from it Giovanna.
Phonologically or orthographically similar names are present in several languages, including Afrikaans, Hindi, Italian, Persian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and some Native American languages. In many of those, it is a nickname for names ending in -ina or -nina.
hidden message in crossword After Nina Hirschfeld, the daughter of the American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; her name was often concealed in his drawings.
Pronunciation
en /ˈniːnə/
en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Nina.wav Southern England
en iːnə 2
Proper noun
en female in continuous use since the 19th century.
en 1990 w:Sue Miller Family Pictures 5, 25 Harper & Row 0060163976 The first three, Macklin, Lydia, and Randall, were the special ones. Even those names, we thought, showed greater imagination, greater involvement on our parents' part, than ours did: Nina, Mary, Sarah. Clearly by that time they had run out of gas."Nina. Such a pretty, old-fashioned name. I hope you don't mind my saying that." "No; I'm glad you think so."
The Babylonian goddess of the watery deep, daughter of Ea.
en gambling dice games en Nina from Pasadena.
Derived terms
en nina Nina from Carolina Nina from Pasadena
Related terms
en Ninotchka
Translations
female given name
Belarusian: be Ні́на f
Czech: cs Nina f
Danish: da Nina c
Faroese: fo Nina f
Finnish: fi Niina, fi Nina
French: fr Nina
Georgian: ka ნინა
German: de Nina
Greek: el Νίνα
Italian: it Nina
Latvian: lv Ņina f
Norwegian: no Nina
Polish: pl Nina
Portuguese: pt Nina f
Russian: ru Ни́на f
Sicilian: scn Nina f
Swedish: sv Nina c
Telugu: te నీనా
Ukrainian: uk Ніна f
Noun
en crosswording en nina a hidden message revealed in the completed grid of a crossword.
en 2013 Alan Connor Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword Ninas are also a way for setters to flex their muscles.
Anagrams
en ainn Inna inna Nain nain nani Nian
en eponyms
Czech
cs:
Pronunciation
Proper noun
f
cs female Nina
Declension
f
Danish
Proper noun
da proper noun c
da female popular in the 1970s and the 1980s
Faroese
Proper noun
fo proper noun f
fo female
Usage notes
f fo Ninuson fo Ninudóttir
Declension
Nina Ninu Ninu Ninu
Finnish
Alternative forms
fi Niina
Etymology
Variant of fi Niina.
Pronunciation
ni(:)na
Proper noun
fi female popular in the 1970s and the 1980s
Declension
Nin a
Statistics
dvv_20250813 14865 1075 43
References
Anagrams
fi ainn Anni nain
French
Etymology
Associated with fr Ninette and fr Ninon, French pet forms of fr Jeannine, fr Jeanne.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
f
fr female
Anagrams
fr nain
German
Pronunciation
de [ˈniːna]
de De-at Nina.ogg Austria
de De-Nina.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>)
de Ni na
Proper noun
de proper noun
de female since the 1980s
Latvian
Etymology
First recorded as a given name of Latvians in early 20th century. From lv ru Ни́на.
Proper noun
lv proper noun f
lv female
lv ru Ни́на female given name
Related terms
lv Ņina
References
Klāvs Siliņš: Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, 5-7966-0278-0
Population Register of Latvia: Nina was the only given name of 969 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010, including Russian speakers.
Norwegian Bokmål
thumb|Nina Grieg, a Norwegian bearer of the name.
Alternative forms
nb Nine Ninna
Etymology
nb The precise origin is uncertain. Probably from nb ru Ни́на female given name, although nb Nina can also have arisen independently as a short form of female given names ending in -nina or -nine, or as a pet form of names ending in -in, -ina, -ine, -inn, -inna or -inne.28 May 2024 Gulbrand Alhaug Nina – kvinnenamn Store norske leksikon https://snl.no/Nina_-_kvinnenamn https://web.archive.org/web/20260921231316/https://snl.no/Nina_-_kvinnenamn 21 September 202615 January 2023 Nina Nordic Names https://www.nordicnames.de/w/index.php?title=Nina&oldid=442899
Norwegian sources analyse Russian ru Ни́на in particular as a short form of ru Антони́на or as a pet form belonging to the ru А́нна name family. Under the former analysis, it is connected with nb la Antōnīna, the feminine form of la Antōnīnus, from la Antōnius, a Roman family name of uncertain, probably Etruscan, origin.
Under the ru А́нна analysis, the wider name family ultimately goes back to nb la-lat Anna female given name, from nb grc-koi Ἄννα Ánna Anna, from nb hbo חַנָּה Ḥannāh Hannah; grace, favour.
Nordic Names additionally records an analysis of Russian ru Ни́на as a feminine form related to Greek grc Νῖνος Nînos, ultimately connected in that source with the Assyrian divine name Nin; this derivation is uncertain.
Pronunciation
nb /ˈniːna/ [ˈniːna]1 October 2024 Nina Babyverden https://www.babyverden.no/navn/nina/
nb iːna 2
nb Ni na
Proper noun
nb proper noun
nb female
nb Nina kommer på besøk i morgen. Nina is coming to visit tomorrow.
nb 25 April 2025 Offisielt fra statsråd 25. april 2025 Regjeringen.no https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/offisielt-fra-statsrad-25.-april-2025/id3098066/ Åremålsbeskikkelse av direktør Nina Cecilie Kulås som direktør for Direktoratet for forvaltning og økonomistyring for en periode på seks år. Appointment on a fixed term of Director Nina Cecilie Kulås as Director of the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management for a period of six years. https://web.archive.org/web/20260916093933/https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/offisielt-fra-statsrad-25.-april-2025/id3098066/ 16 September 2026
Usage notes
The Norwegian name day for nb Nina is 4 April, shared with nb Nancy and nb Nanna.
The earliest known Norwegian bearer may have been Nina Karlsen, born in Søndre Land in 1816. She was baptized Nicoline, however, and it is uncertain when she began using the name nb Nina. Nordic Names therefore records 1816 as the earliest documented Norwegian use.
In the 19th century, nb Nina was particularly associated with Hedmark.
The name had its main Norwegian popularity peak in 1965–1969. It reached second place among names given to newborn girls in 1966.28 January 2026 Navn Statistisk sentralbyrå https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/navn/statistikk/navn
Statistics
According to Statistics Norway, 18,134 people in Norway had nb Nina as a first name as of 31 December 2025.Table 10501: “Personer, etter jentenavn og guttenavn 2013–2025”, Statistics Norway, updated 28 January 2026.
References
Kruken, Kristoffer and Ola Stemshaug (1995), Norsk personnamnleksikon, Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget.
Anagrams
nb ainn Anni Inna
Polish
pl:
Etymology
pl.
Pronunciation
Pl-Nina.ogg
Proper noun
f
pl female Nina
Declension
Further reading
Portuguese
Etymology
pt :bor ru:Ни́на<ety:uder<ka:ნინო>> 2 1
Pronunciation
Proper noun
f
pt female Russian Nina
Slovak
Pronunciation
Proper noun
f Ninka,Ninočka
sk female
Declension
f
Further reading
Swedish
Pronunciation
sv LL-Q9027 (swe)-Moonhouse-Nina.wav
Proper noun
c
sv female popular in the 1970s and the 1980s
Anagrams
sv ainn -inna nian