In 1947, the baby name Ginna popped up for the first time in the U.S. baby name data:
- 1950: unlisted
- 1949: 5 baby girls named Ginna
- 1948: unlisted
- 1947: 5 baby girls named Ginna [debut]
- 1946: unlisted
Where did it come from?
The 1946 movie My Reputation, which included a secondary character named Ginna (played by actress Eve Arden). Her name was pronounced with a short i, like the “gin” in Virginia.
The movie’s protagonist, Jessica (played by Barbara Stanwyck), was a widow trying to find love again despite various pressures: her gossipy friends, her domineering mother, her teenage sons (named Kim and Keith, btw). Ginna was Jessica’s nice, non-gossipy friend.
Do you like the name Ginna? Do you like it more or less than the more popular name Gina?
(A few years before, Stanwyck played a character named Fiona who also influenced baby names…)