Nina

See also: nina, NINA, Nína, niña, ñina, Ņina, and -nina

English

Etymology

Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на (Nína), the name of a Georgian fourth-century saint, 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, daughter of American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; her name was often concealed in his drawings.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniːnə/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnə

Proper noun

Nina

1. A female given name in continuous use since the 19th century.
   • 1990, Sue Miller, Family Pictures, Harper & Row, →ISBN, pages 5, 25:

     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."

2. The Babylonian goddess of the watery deep, daughter of Ea.

Related terms

• Ninotchka

Translations

female given name

• Belarusian: Ні́на f (Nína)
• Czech: Nina (cs) f
• Danish: Nina c
• Faroese: Nina f
• Finnish: Niina (fi), Nina (fi)
• French: Nina (fr)
• Georgian: ნინა (nina)
• German: Nina (de)
• Italian: Nina (it)
• Latvian: Ņina f
• Norwegian: Nina (no)
• Polish: Nina (pl)
• Portuguese: Nina (pt) f
• Russian: Ни́на (ru) f (Nína)
• Swedish: Nina (sv) c
• Telugu: నీనా (nīnā)

Noun

Nina (plural Ninas)

1. A hidden message in a cryptic crossword, revealed when the solution has been filled in.
   • 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

• Inna, inna

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɲɪna]

Proper noun

Nina f

1. a female given name, equivalent to English Nina

Danish

Proper noun

Nina c

1. a female given name popular in the 1970s and the 1980s

Faroese

Proper noun

Nina f

1. a female given name

Usage notes

Matronymics

• son of Nina: Ninuson
• daughter of Nina: Ninudóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Nina
Accusative	Ninu
Dative	Ninu
Genitive	Ninu

Finnish

Alternative forms

• Niina

Etymology

From Russian Ни́на (Nína).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni(ː)nɑ/, [ˈni(ː)nɑ]
• Rhymes: -inɑ
• Syllabification^(key): Ni‧na

Proper noun

Nina

1. a female given name popular in the 1970s and the 1980s

Declension

Inflection of Nina (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative		Nina	Ninat
genitive		Ninan	Ninojen
partitive		Ninaa	Ninoja
illative		Ninaan	Ninoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		Nina	Ninat
accusative	nom.	Nina	Ninat
	gen.	Ninan
genitive		Ninan	Ninojen Ninainrare
partitive		Ninaa	Ninoja
inessive		Ninassa	Ninoissa
elative		Ninasta	Ninoista
illative		Ninaan	Ninoihin
adessive		Ninalla	Ninoilla
ablative		Ninalta	Ninoilta
allative		Ninalle	Ninoille
essive		Ninana	Ninoina
translative		Ninaksi	Ninoiksi
instructive		—	Ninoin
abessive		Ninatta	Ninoitta
comitative		—	Ninoineen

Possessive forms of Nina (type kala)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	Ninani	Ninamme
2nd person	Ninasi	Ninanne
3rd person	Ninansa

Anagrams

• Anni, nain

French

Etymology

Associated with Ninette and Ninon, French pet forms of Jeannine, Jeanne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni.na/

Proper noun

Nina f

1. a female given name

Anagrams

• nain

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈniːna]

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ni‧na

Proper noun

Nina

1. a female given name, popular since the 1980s

Latvian

Etymology

First recorded as a given name of Latvians in early 20th century. From Russian Ни́на (Nína).

Proper noun

Nina f

1. a female given name
2. A transliteration of the Russian female given name Ни́на (Nína).

Related terms

• Ņina

References

• Klāvs Siliņš: Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, →ISBN
• [1] Population Register of Latvia: Nina was the only given name of 969 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010, including Russian speakers.

Norwegian

Etymology

From Russian Ни́на (Nína), and from given names ending in -nina/-nine.

Proper noun

Nina

1. a female given name popular in the 1960s and the 1970s

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [2] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 17 778 females with the given name Nina living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on April 18th, 2011.

Polish

Etymology

Uncertain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲi.na/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: Ni‧na

Proper noun

Nina f

1. a female given name, equivalent to English Nina

Declension

Declension of Nina

	singular	plural
nominative	Nina	Niny
genitive	Niny	Nin
dative	Ninie	Ninom
accusative	Ninę	Niny
instrumental	Niną	Ninami
locative	Ninie	Ninach
vocative	Nino	Niny

Further reading

• Nina in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Nina in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian Ни́на (Nína), from Georgian ნინო (nino).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈnĩ.nɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈnĩ.nɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈni.na/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈni.nɐ/

Proper noun

Nina f

1. a female given name from Russian, equivalent to English Nina

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲina/

Proper noun

Nina f (genitive singular Niny, nominative plural Niny, declension pattern of žena)

1. a female given name

Declension

Declension of Nina

	singular	plural
nominative	Nina	Niny
genitive	Niny	Nín
dative	Nine	Ninám
accusative	Ninu	Niny
locative	Nine	Ninách
instrumental	Ninou	Ninami

Further reading

• Nina in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

Swedish

Proper noun

Nina c (genitive Ninas)

1. a female given name popular in the 1970s and the 1980s

Anagrams

• -inna, nian