Given name & surname

Messina

“the middle child”

Messina is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “the middle child.”

Original Arabicمسينة

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Arabic interpretation is “the middle child.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.

How it developed

From Italian Messina.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1974. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Messina through the years

Babies since 1880
117
0 boys · 117 girls
Most popular year
1977
11 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
02468198020002025Highest share 19770.0
Messina in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1974–2025, per million girls born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 8 in 2006. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 202 as a first name in 2020; 12,156 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Messina’s family of names

In English usage, Messina as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Messene. Messina has a related form in Massina. Messina has a related form in Messena.

Walk Messina’s family in the name graph

MessinaΜεσσήναΜεσσίναMessenaMassinaMessiniaMussinaMessinahMesinaMissinaMecinaMessynaMesinoمسينةМессинаMesseneМессінаمسینهमेस्सिनाMesīnaMessāna메시나メッシーナמסינהΜεσσήνηმესინაMessine墨西拿МесинаМесінаՄեսինա

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Messina has relatives in 26 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.

SpanishPolishGreekRussianArabicMarathiMandarinCantoneseJapanese

Arabicwhere Messina comes from · 1 name

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Dots on the border stand for languages further away. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Similar names

If you love Messina, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Arabic

Khalilah

“a beloved friend”

25RareRising

>99% girls

Arabic · Nature

Jena

“our little bird”

24RareEasing

>99% girls

Arabic

Jamila

“a beautiful and elegant lady”

42UncommonSteady

>99% girls

Arabic

Rana

“an eyecatching, beautiful object” · “an eye-catching woman; to gaze upon”

35RareSteady

15% boys · 85% girls

Arabic

Roula

Roula is a feminine given name from Arabic. It is used in French.

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Arabic

Talitha

“a maiden; young girl”

30RareEasing

>99% girls

Arabic

Farrah

“fair-haired woman” · “one who bears the burden”

45UncommonEasing

>99% girls

Arabic · Modern

Maissa

Maissa is a feminine given name from Arabic. It is used in French.

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Sibling ideas

Names that share Messina’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Messina

A sister for Messina