Gender: Feminine
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “little maiden.”
Germ/Eng (koh-RIN-nah); Grk (koh-REEN-nah)
The name is from the ancient Greek Κοριννα (Korinna) which is derived from the Greek, κορη (kore), meaning “maiden.” There is the diminutive sufix of -inna attached, so it more likely means “little maiden” “little girl.” The name is related to Cora, a name which I will go further into in a seperate entry.
The name was borne by a 5th-century BCE Greek poetess and it is the name of the title character in Ovid’s Amores. It is also the name of the title character in Robert Herrick’s 17th-century poem Corinna’s going a-Maying.
Its French form of Corinne was popularized via the eponymous novel by Madame de Staël (1807)
As of 2009, Korina was the 73rd most popular female name in Croatia. While its French form of Corinne ranked in as the 728th most popular female name in the United States, (2010).
The designated name-day in Germany is October 22. The Corinna form is also used in Italy.
Other forms of the name include:
- Korilla (Boetian)
- Corinna (Catalan/English/Italian)
- Korina Корина (Croatian/Czech/Latvian/Greek/Serbian/Slovakian/Slovene)
- Corine (Dutch/French: koh-REEN)
- Korinna Коринна (German/Greek/Hungarian/Russian)
- Corinne (French: koh-RIN)
- Corina (German/Italian/Portuguese/Romanian/Romansch/Spanish)
- Coranna (Italian)
- Corilla (Italian)
- Korynna (Polish)
- Koryna (Polish/Lithuanian)
There is a modern Greek masculine form: Korinos and an Italian masculine version of Corinno.
The name is also borne by a very popular 3rd century saint. St. Maurice was an Egyptian by birth and a Roman citizen. He served in the Roman army and was apart of the Theban legions, which had been stationed in Switzerland at the time of the saint’s martyrdom. According to legend, Emperor Maximian ordered Maurice and his legions to destroy a local Christian community, when Maurice and his followers refused to harass fellow Christians, the emperor ordered them to be executed. The area of martyrdom is now known as Saint Maurice-en-Valais and the Abbey of Saint Maurice-en-Valais supposedly houses the saint’s relics.
The saint also gave his name to another town in Switzerland: St. Moritz, (Top of the World), is a beautiful little resort town that sits in the Valley of Engadine and the canton of Graubünden. Their coat of arms actually features the legendary saint. St. Maurice is also venerated among Coptic Christians. In fact, the names Maurice and Maurikios are fairly common among Egyptian Christians.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: German