An English variant of Gina, usually linked to Regina, Georgina, or Virginia depending on family usage.
Ginna is a warmly intimate name with roots most likely running through Gina — an Italian short form that detached from longer names such as Georgina, Luigina, or Regina and became entirely self-sufficient. Regina itself is pure Latin, meaning "queen," and carries the regal associations of that word across centuries of European culture and Catholic devotion, where the Virgin Mary was venerated as Regina Caeli — Queen of Heaven. Georgina derives from George, which traces back to the Greek georgos, meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker."
Ginna, then, is a name that may carry royalty or the earth in equal measure, depending on how you follow its thread. In Italy and in Italian-American communities throughout the 20th century, Gina became a name charged with warmth and vivacity, borne most famously by Gina Lollobrigida (1927–2023), the Italian actress whose beauty and spirited screen presence made her a global icon of post-war European glamour. The extra 'n' in Ginna gives the name a slightly different texture — softer, more intimate, as though the name itself is being said with affection rather than formality.
It appears in Scandinavian naming traditions as well, where Ginna can function as a variant of Gunna or Gunhild, names with Norse roots meaning "war" and "battle," a rather different inheritance. Modern bearers of Ginna inhabit a name that feels both familiar and quietly uncommon — recognizable in sound, unexpected in spelling. Its brevity is one of its strengths: it is easy to say, easy to remember, and impossible to shorten further, which means the name a child is given is almost certainly the name she will use throughout her life.