*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Nina

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

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

A female given name in continuous use since the 19th century. · The Babylonian goddess of the watery deep, daughter of Ea. · Ellipsis of Nina from Pasadena.

noun

Alternative letter-case form of nina (“a hidden message revealed in the completed grid of a crossword”).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ru",
        "3": "Ни́на"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian Ни́на (Nína)"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "it",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian"
    },
    {
      "name": "sense",
      "args": {
        "1": "hidden message in crossword"
      },
      "expansion": "(hidden message in crossword):"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Ни́на",
      "Нина#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "Nino",
      "Nino"
    ],
    [
      "Assyrian",
      "Assyrian"
    ],
    [
      "Ninus",
      "Ninus"
    ],
    [
      "Annina",
      "Annina#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "Anna",
      "Anna#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "Giovannina",
      "Giovannina#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "Giovanna",
      "Giovanna#Italian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A female given name in continuous use since the 19th century.",
        "The Babylonian goddess of the watery deep, daughter of Ea.",
        "Ellipsis of Nina from Pasadena."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "ellipsis"
      ],
      "recordId": "52970841a3bb3c8c7779185cef8ebfc5d2f7cf7d6a758b1ba1175e584b75a33f",
      "rawRecordSha256": "904a8d47a118eafb238f5cfe1572375ec6ec375aae575dd95f2deb0cf7816841",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 438327
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative letter-case form of nina (“a hidden message revealed in the completed grid of a crossword”)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of"
      ],
      "recordId": "b7d833ce0cd30ad1470f3c5bc8b9b54d52b9595b4cce8c997d1779fb89edc833",
      "rawRecordSha256": "29cc95c87fa99c9655f54f27afdfca668da2ea98aaf6159cbb57e2d9a9a90d35",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 438328
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Nina →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-TmluYQ