Short form of Christina or Valentina; from Latin endings meaning follower of Christ or strong.
Tina began its life as a diminutive — a term of affection clipped from longer names ending in -tina: Christina (from the Greek Khristina, "anointed one," "follower of Christ"), Valentina (from the Latin valens, "strong" or "healthy"), Martina, Albertina, and dozens more. Across the Romance languages of Europe, these -tina names were shortened to Tina in homes and schoolyards, and by the mid-twentieth century the nickname had fully emancipated itself, standing alone on birth certificates with quiet confidence.
The name's cultural peak in the English-speaking world came in the 1960s through 1980s, propelled in no small part by Tina Turner — born Anna Mae Bullock but renamed by Ike Turner — who transformed the name into a byword for raw power, survival, and transcendence. Italian cinema gave the world Tina Pica; Austrian opera gave it coloratura soprano Tina Lerner. In Scandinavia and Germany, Tina has long stood as a fully independent name rather than a diminutive.
The name carries a warm, unpretentious mid-century sensibility — it never tried to be grand, which is perhaps why it has endured with such easy affection. In recent years it has gently declined in frequency, which often signals the beginning of a vintage revival.