Winona

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From a Dakota Sioux descriptive term, Winúŋna, meaning "firstborn daughter."[1][2][3] While not originally used as a personal name by the Dakota, it has been adopted as such by English speakers.[1]

John Koontz suggested that the name was a compound of wi- (“female”) + no (“first”) + -na (a diminutive suffix) and thus a reflex of the Proto-Siouan numeral *rǫ/nǫ ("one"). That root is otherwise unattested in the Sioux languages, which use reflexes of *wį(y)ą ("one") instead,[4] and a more prosaic analysis identifies the first elements of the name with winyan (“woman”).

Proper noun

Winona

  1. A female given name, used mainly in the United States.
    • 2001, Julia Cameron, God Is No Laughing Matter:
      I've met the full Clairol spectrum of Winonas, and I have come to recognize them the way you might watch for pretty little coral snakes in Florida. Isn't that sweet? you think—until it bites you and you die. Just like those pretty little snakes, Winona talks in a sort of a soft and wispy hiss and tells you how confused she is […]
  2. A city in Kansas
  3. A city in Minnesota, and county seat of Winona County.
  4. A city in Mississippi, and the county seat of Montgomery County.
  5. A city in Missouri
  6. A town in Texas

References
  1. Porter, Cynthya (Feb 1, 2009). "Homecoming To Explore Roles Of American Indian Women". Winona Daily News, reprinted at Diversity Foundation. Retrieved 21 Oct 2015.
  2. 1910, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, edited by Frederick Webb Hodge, part 2
  3. Edward Callary, Place Names of Illinois
  4. Robert Rankin, A Relic of Proto-Siouan *rǫ/nǫ "one" in Mississippi Valley Siouan

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