Winona - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 3 syll. wi-no-na, win-ona ] The girl name Winona is pronounced WIHNahNah ^KEY. Winona's language of origin is Dakota and it is used largely in the English language. Derived literally from the element winona which means 'firstborn daughter'. The name was borne by a legendary Sioux princess and heroine. The Dakota commonly name a firstborn girl Winona, and a firstborn boy Chaska. The name appeared in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow epic poem The Song of Hiawatha (1855) as the mother of Hiawatha. The form Winona was first popularized by the H. L. Gordon poem Winona (1881).

Variant forms of the name include the English names Vinona, Wenona, Wenonah, Wynona, and Wynonna.

Winona is unusual as a baby name for girls. Its usage peaked modestly in 1931 with 0.023% of baby girls being given the name Winona. Its ranking then was #407. The baby name has since substantially declined in popularity, and is used only on an infrequent scale now. Among all girl names in its group, Winona was nonetheless the most popular in 2007.

Baby names that sound like Winona include the English Wenona, the English Wenonah, the English Wynona, the English Wynonna, the English, German, and Welsh Winnie, the Spanish Juana, the Thai Waan, the English and Welsh Win, and the English and Welsh Winn.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Winona: W as in "we (W.IY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"

A famous person named Winona is Actress, Winona Ryder, born Winona Laura Horowitz, 29 October 1971, Winona, Minnesota.

Popularity Trend
for Winona
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Winona
in 2007