Winona
Winona was the 627th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 466 babies. Its best year was 1924, when it ranked 407th; the most babies were born in 2025 (466). Over the last ten years it has moved up 3,439 places. More babies were named Winona in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Meaning firstborn daughter (Dakota) · Dakota
Say it wih-NOH-nuh /wɪˈnoʊnə/
- Rank in 2025
- #627 girls, up 794 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 466girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2025466 babies
- Total since 1880
- 12,953babies recorded
What does the name Winona mean?
Winona comes from the Dakota word winúŋna, used for a first-born daughter. It was a birth-order term rather than a personal name among the Dakota, but English speakers adopted it as a given name in the 19th century, helped by the legend of a Dakota woman named Winona at a bluff by Lake Pepin and by the naming of Winona, Minnesota. Wiktionary notes that linguists analyze the word as 'female' or 'woman' plus a word for 'first' and a suffix. The actress Winona Ryder is a well-known bearer.
winúŋna (Dakota, “firstborn daughter”)
How sure is this? Well established. The exact breakdown of the Dakota word is debated by linguists, but the overall meaning is agreed.
Related names: Wynona, Wenona, Nona.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Winona', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Nicknames for Winona
The usual nicknames for Winona are Winnie and Nona. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Winona in the last five years, 163 were named Winnie, against 370 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winnie · also for Winston, Winifred | Traditional | #475 | 2,613 |
| Nona | Traditional | #8,725 | 91 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Winonas go by each one.
Winona popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #627 | 466 |
| 2020 | #1,421 | 154 |
| 2010 | #6,625 | 20 |
| 2000 | #4,395 | 28 |
| 1990 | #3,296 | 34 |
| 1980 | #2,602 | 37 |
| 1970 | #1,857 | 48 |
| 1960 | #1,155 | 90 |
| 1950 | #797 | 119 |
| 1940 | #617 | 129 |
| 1930 | #454 | 221 |
| 1920 | #455 | 222 |
| 1910 | #513 | 65 |
| 1900 | #916 | 18 |
| 1890 | #756 | 14 |
| 1880 | #833 | 6 |
How popular is Winona, counting every spelling?
Winona is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #620 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #627 for Winona on its own. Together these spellings went to 474 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winona | 466 | #627 | 1,604 |
| Winnona | 8 | #11,869 | 27 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Winona?
466 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Winona (0.13 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Winona born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 18 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Winona.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Winona?
About 6,000 people born in the US named Winona are alive today, with a median age of 45; half are between 5 and 70. That makes Winona mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Winona by state
How common Winona was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Oregon (3.3×), Minnesota (3.2×), Wisconsin (2.9×), Michigan (2.1×), Colorado (2.1×). In 17 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Winona: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Winona, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Winona · Sibling names for Winona
Questions about the name Winona
What does Winona mean?
Winona means “firstborn daughter (Dakota)” (Dakota origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Winona?
Winona was the 627th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 466 babies. Its best year was 1924, when it ranked 407th; the most babies were born in 2025 (466). Over the last ten years it has moved up 3,439 places. More babies were named Winona in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Is Winona a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Winona in the US.
Where is Winona most popular?
In 2021–2025, Winona was most common in Maine (0.78 per 1,000 girls), followed by North Dakota and Oregon.