| Reina | |
| Gender: | Feminine |
| Meaning: | “happy” in Bulgarian, English folk etymology of “rain” or “reign” or “rein”, “strong counsel” in Germanic languages, “night” in Hindi, various meanings in Japanese, including “wise”, “queen” in Spanish, “purity” in Yiddish. |
| Related Names: | Lorraine, Radka, Ragnar, Rain, Raina, Raine, Rainer, Rainier, Rainy, Raya, Rayna, Regan, Regina, Reign, Reine, Reinhard, Reyna, Rhiannon, Ryan |
Reina, which is also spelled Raina, Rayna, or Reyna in English, is a feminine given name with multiple, unrelated origins from a number of different languages and cultures. All of these unrelated names are pronounced and written similarly in English.
The name means “queen” in Spanish and is related to the Italian name Regina and sometimes used by Catholics in reference to Mary, mother of Jesus, [1] [2] who is called the Queen of Heaven. The French Reine, which also means “queen”, is also a related name.
The Bulgarian name Rayna (Bulgarian: Райна) is a diminutive of Slavic names such as Radka that contain the element rad-, meaning “happy.” Raya, another name with unrelated origins from multiple cultures, is another Bulgarian variant of the name.[3] [4]
Rayna or Raina can also be derived from a name of Germanic origin. Related masculine forms with the same origins are Ragnar, Rainer, Rainier, Rayner, or Reinhard. All mean “strong counsel.”[5]
Reina (Yiddish: רֵיינָא) is also a Yiddish name referring to spiritual or ritual purity, also spelled Rayna or Reyna.[6]
Raina, also spelled Reyna, (Hindi: रैना) is also a Hindi given name and surname meaning “night.”
Reina is also a Japanese name with different meanings depending on the kanji or hiragana symbols that are used to spell it, including (Japanese Kanji: 怜奈) meaning “wise.”[7]
Some forms of the name are short forms of the name Lorraine and its variants.
Some English versions of the name such as Rainna and Reigna are influenced by its similarity in sound and spelling to the words “rain” and “reign” and “rein”. Rain, Raine, Rainy, Reign, and Rein, which might also be derived from other sources such as a short form of Germanic names such as Reinhard, and spelling variants are also in use as names for both sexes.[8] [9]
Reina was among the top 10 most popular names for newborn girls in Albania in recent years.[10] Reina has been in occasional use in other countries, including the United States, where it has ranked among the top 1,000 names in use for newborn girls since 2000. In 2020, the year it was most popular there, it was used for 488 American girls, or 0.028 percent, of females born that year and was ranked as the 591st most popular name. It was the 622nd most-used name for American girls in 2022. Other spellings of the name are also well used in the United States. Reyna was the 594th most used name for American newborn girls in 2020, with 486 uses, or 0.03 percent, for baby girls and ranked 579th in 2021, with 520 uses. That spelling of the name ranked 578th on the popularity chart in 2022, with 514 uses. Rayna also has ranked among the top 1,000 names for American girls in recent years. In 2020, 396 American girls, or 0.02 percent of females born that year, received the name, which was the 702nd most used name for newborn girls in the United States. In 2021, the name Rayna was given to 390 girls and the name was ranked in 727th place. In 2022, it ranked in 763rd place, with 373 girls given the name. Raina also has recently ranked among the top 1,000 names for American girls and ranked 809th in 2020, with 332, or 0.02 percent, of girls born that year given the name. Some 304 girls were called Raina in the United States in 2021, the year it ranked in 887th place on the popularity chart. It ranked 926th in 2022, with 290 girls given the name. Other spellings in occasional use in the United States include Rainah, Rainna, Raynah, Reigna, and Reynah.[11] [12]