Tina
- Pronunciation
- [Ti-na]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- River
- Origin
- English
About the Name Tina
Tina originated as a short form of longer names ending in -tina — principally Christina, Martina, and Valentina — before establishing itself as an independent given name in the mid-twentieth century. The recorded meaning of "river" does not reflect a documented etymology for the name itself; Tina's appeal was phonetic and cultural rather than rooted in an independent ancient word. Its crisp, modern sound fitted perfectly into the same mid-century taste for short, bright feminine names that also elevated Donna, Linda, and Sandra.
The name's most iconic bearer is Tina Turner, born 1939, an American-Swiss singer, songwriter, and actress whose six-decade music career — first as one half of the Ike & Tina Turner R&B duo and then as a solo artist — produced some of the most enduring recordings in rock and soul history. Turner's global stardom during the 1970s and 1980s gave the name an indelible association with power, resilience, and electrifying stage presence.
Tina first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 1956 and peaked at #18 in 1968, a high that coincided with Turner's own rising fame. It last appeared in the top-1000 in 2006 at rank #929, marking a 50-year chart run. Recorded variants are Tine and Tiny, though neither approached the popularity of the root form.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Tina
US Popularity History (1956–2006)
Annual US births named Tina by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1968 with 14,772 girls named Tina (girl rank #18 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2006, ranked #929 for girls (284 US births). That's 911 places below its 1968 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Famous People Named Tina
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Tina.
- Tina Turner — R&B Singer (1939)
Looking for names like Tina?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Tina to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Tina against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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