Nina

Meanings

Proper Noun

• A female given name in continuous use since the 19th century.
• The Babylonian goddess of the watery deep, daughter of Ea.

Noun

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

Origin

• Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на, 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.
• After Nina Hirschfeld, daughter of American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; her name was often concealed in his drawings.