 “Coronation of the Virgin” by Diego Velázquez. | |
| Gender | Feminine |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| 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. |
| Other names | |
| 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.
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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]
