Minna
Feminine · “love”
Minna is German, and the word behind it — minne — is the medieval German term for courtly love, which had its own school of poets.
How old is the name Minna?
Minna was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Minna alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 1,500 people named Minna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Minna most popular?
Minna peaked in 1889, reaching #368 nationally. Today it ranks #4661, 4,293 places below that high. See the whole 1889 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From minne to Minna
The story of Minna
The Minnesänger were the German counterparts of the troubadours, writing and performing love poetry in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries — Walther von der Vogelweide is the great name among them. Minne was their subject: a formal, idealized devotion with rules. The word later faded from ordinary German. Minna as a name was very common in nineteenth-century Germany and America.
Meaningscholars disagree
love; or will, helmet
Middle High German minne means love, especially the courtly kind, and gives Minnesang. Minna is also a short form of Wilhelmina, from Germanic wil, will, and helm, helmet. Both are genuine sources.
How the name formed
- minne
- Minna
Related forms: Minna · Minna · Wilhelmina
Pronouncing Minna
MIN-uh
Two syllables, first stressed. German gives the same shape.
Nicknames for Minna
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 191749 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #368reached in 1889
- Change vs 2022
- −17.1%29 in 2025, from 35
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Minna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Minna in German — same name
- Minna in Finnish — same name
- Wilhelmina in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Illinois, New York.
Minnas among us
people named Minna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 55,423 born in 2025 was named Minna
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Minna
- #4661
- Minna on the 2025 chart
- #500
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Minna went to 29 girls in 2025, but Mina and Minah are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 532, which makes it the 500th most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,161 places above the chart.
- Mina491
- Minna29
- Minah12
About 1 girl in 3,021 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 55,423 for Minna itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Minna sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Minna is headed
Minna should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Minna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Minna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A genuinely interesting medieval literary movement behind one reading.
- Min and Minnie are both ready short forms.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Minnie is a strong association through a very famous cartoon mouse.
- The two possible sources are unrelated and mean different things.
- It is strongly associated with the nineteenth century.
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What they receive
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Minna
Feminine · #4661 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Minnas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Minna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Minna?
- Minna is one of 3 recorded spellings. Mina is the more common one — 491 births in 2025 against 29 for Minna.
- How popular is the name Minna in 2025?
- Minna ranks #4661 among US girl names in 2025, with 29 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Minna?
- About 1 in every 55,423 US girls born in 2025 was named Minna — 29 in all.
- Will my child share the name Minna with classmates?
- Minna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Minna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ellenor#4661 · Roselie#4661 · Marni#4661 · Menucha#4661 · Infinity#4661 · Lilya#4661 · Railyn#4661 · Zada#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Minna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Minna and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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