Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на (Nína), 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 Italian short form of diminutives like Annina from Anna and Giovannina from 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.
Meanings
(alt-of, qualifier:crosswording) Alternative letter-case form of nina (“a hidden message revealed in the completed grid of a crossword”).
Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на (Nína), 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 Italian short form of diminutives like Annina from Anna and Giovannina from 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.
Meanings
A female given name in continuous use since the 19th century.
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." 1990, Sue Miller, Family Pictures, Harper & Row, →ISBN, pages 5, 25:
The Babylonian goddess of the watery deep, daughter of Ea.
(abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Nina from Pasadena.
it Nina (female given name) · cs Nina (female given name) · no Nina (female given name) · uk Ніна (female given name) · pl Nina (female given name) · be Ні́на (female given name) · sv Nina (female given name) · te నీనా (female given name) · pt Nina (female given name) · da Nina (female given name) · fo Nina (female given name) · fr Nina (female given name) · ru Ни́на (female given name) · scn Nina (female given name) · fi Nina (female given name) · el Νίνα (female given name) · ka ნინა (female given name) · de Nina (female given name) · lv Ņina (female given name) · fi Niina (female given name)