Lina (/ˈliːnə/ LEE-nə) is an international feminine given name. Languages of origin include: English, Italian, Turkish, Lithuanian, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Swedish, Persian, Kurdish, Arabic. It is also the short form of a variety of names ending in -lina including Catalina, Angelina, Carmelina, Carolina, Emelina, Marcelina, Nikolina, Rosalina, Italina, and Žaklina.[1][2] Lina is a Finnish, Italian, and Slovene feminine given name that is a feminine form of Lino, Lin, and Linus.[3]
In 2011 it was one of the most popular given female names in Germany.[4] It was initially used as a shortened form of names such as Karolina, Nikolina, Adelina, Evelina and Paulina. Since "-lina" is a diminutive suffix, it has no meaning of its own in Swedish. The Danish and Norwegian form is "Line". Lina has since 2019 been one of the most popular female names in France.
The Greek writing is Λίνα. In Greek, it means "sunlight", and also refers to the olive crown used for a hero.[citation needed]
In Persian, it means "light", "a ray of sunlight" or "beautiful girl". In Kurdish, it means cascade falls (تئاڤگەی بچوک).
Lina is also a short form of any female name ending in "-lina", such as Angelina, Evangelina, Carolina, Melina.
Lina is the female form of Linas, a common given name among people of Lithuanian descent. It can also be construed as a rare feminine form of Linus.
In the Russian language, Lina (Ли́на) is a diminutive form of the female name Avelina.[5]
Lina has a different meaning in different languages for example "Lina" in Arabic refers to a "small, young palm tree", or the Classical plural meaning of "palm trees". It is a direct Quranic Arabic (Classical Arabic) name. Figuratively, Lina means "tender" or "tenderness" and "delicate".
The name Lina also has roots in France, China and India. In India it refers to Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of fortune, good luck, riches and splendor. In Chinese, "Li" (丽) means "pretty" and "Na" (娜) means "elegant".
