Tina (given name)

Tina
PronunciationEnglish: /ˈtnə/
GenderFeminine
Origin
MeaningDiminutive for names ending in -tina
Other names
Alternative spellingTeena, Tena, Tiina, Tine

Tina is a largely feminine given name that originated as a diminutive for names ending in -tina such as Christina. Teena and Tena are modern English variant spellings of Tina. Tiina is an Estonian and Finnish variant. Tine is a Danish and Norwegian variant. Its masculine counterpart is Tino, Tin, or the Slovene Tine.

The hypocorism Tina or Teena is also sometimes derived from the English word “tiny”, as was the case for American jazz tenor saxophonist and composer Tina Brooks (1932 – 1974), who was born Harold, or from the English slang term “teeny”, referring to a person who is of insignificant size, as was the case for British Victorian Shakespeare scholar and philologist Teena Rochfort-Smith (1861 – 1883), who was born Mary.

In the Arabic language, Tīnah (تينة) is a word that means "fig". It is also the usual diminutive for the Georgian feminine name Tinatin.