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. There is Latvian feminine given nam Tīna. Its masculine counterpart is Tino, Tin, or the Slovene Tine. In some cases Tina or Teena is 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.
Usage The name is in use worldwide as a diminutive of various names. It was not widely used as an independent given name until the 1940s and 1950s. In the United States, increased usage of the name has been attributed to characters in the 1939 American drama film The Old Maid and the 1942 American drama film Now, Voyager, and later to the 1955 hit song Tina Marie. The name peaked in usage for American girls in 1968, when it was the 18th most popular name for American girls born that year. Tina was among the top 100 most used names for American girls between 1956 and 1982 and remained among the 1,000 most used names until 2006. It was similarly popular elsewhere. In Australia, the name was among the top 100 names for girls between 1966 and 1979. In Canada, the name was among the top 100 names for girls between 1962 and 1983. In New Zealand, the name was among the top 100 names between 1960 and 1981. In the United Kingdom, the name was among the top 100 names from the 1950s to the 1970s. In Latvia, the name was among the too 100 names for girls between 2005 and 2010. In Norway, the name was among the top 100 names for girls between 1966 and 2004. In the Czech Republic, the name was among the top 200 names for girls between 1991 and 2016.
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