Tina's going symphonic in Omaha.
Next Friday and Saturday, the Omaha Symphony presents "The Music of Tina Turner," giving an orchestral twist to hits like "What's Love Got to Do with It."
"Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" Tina Turner (1939-2023) was born Anna Mae Bullock. When she joined Ike Turner's band in 1960, he changed her name to Tina, partly to rhyme with comics character Sheena Queen of the Jungle. After her 1976 divorce from Ike, Tina endured lean years before her solo career surged in the 1980s, making her one of the world's top entertainers.
Tina was originally a short form of many names. Though Christina is the most common, Martina, Bettina, Valentina, etc. contribute. In Europe, Tina is also a pet form of Katharina.
Some also get Tina as a nickname from "tiny" or "teeny." That's how one American man became "Tina." Tina Brooks (1932-1974), a tenor saxophonist whom experts consider one of the greatest jazz instrumentalists, was born Harold Brooks. His childhood nickname, Teeny, developed into Tina.
It's hard to know when Tina became a name in its own right. The oldest of 126 Tinas in 1850's United States census, Tina Houghtaling of Jefferson, New York (1783-1863), is Christina or Christiann in other records.
When Social Security's yearly lists start in 1880, Tina ranked 420th. It slowly receded to 669th in 1938.
Tina started rising because of two Bette Davis movies. "The Old Maid" (1939), based on a novel by Edith Wharton (1924) and play by Zoe Akins, is about Charlotte Lovell (Davis), who falls in love with Civil War soldier Clem. After he's killed in battle, unmarried Charlotte gives birth to his daughter, naming her Clementina (Tina). Charlotte starts an orphanage, telling Tina she's also an orphan. Adult Tina (Jane Bryan) resents Charlotte's refusal to reveal her parentage, and asks Charlotte's cousin Delia to adopt her, giving Tina a higher social position.
"Now, Voyager" was a hit film of 1942, starring Bette Davis as Charlotte and Janis Wilson as Tina. Davis got an Oscar nomination for what's still ranked one of her best films.
Olive Higgins Prouty's 1941 novel "Now, Voyager" features browbeaten spinster Charlotte Vale, who falls in love with Jerry Durrance and becomes a mentor to his young daughter Tina, who like Charlotte has an uncaring abusive mother. It's probable Prouty was influenced by "The Old Maid" in naming characters Charlotte and Tina.
Tina's use jumped for babies in both 1939 and 1942. It got another big boost from Perry Como's hit "Tina Marie" (1955), with its refrain "Tina, Tina, Tina, Tina, you sweet little schemer." 1,236 Tinas were born in 1954, and 5,330 in 1956.
Tina peaked at 18th in 1968, when 0.86% of girls received it.
Official Tinas are still only part of the story. Many famous Tinas have longer official names. Oregon's governor Kotek (born 1966) and Minnesota's senator Smith (1958) are "Christine." Actress Majorino (1985) is "Albertina," bassist Weymouth (1950) of "Talking Heads" is "Martina," and comedian Fey (1970) is "Stamatina."
Famous women who are official Tinas include actresses Louise (1934), Ginger of "Gilligan's Island," and Huang (1981), attorney Melinda Trask on "Days of Our Lives."
With the typical bearer now a mother of teens, Tina left the top thousand in 2007. Still, its 20th-century success makes Tina no longer "teeny" as a name.