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Winona

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Winona

  • /wɪˈnoʊnə/

Rhymes with -əʊnə

Where it comes from

From Dakota winúŋna (“firstborn daughter”). While not originally used as a personal name by the Dakota, it has been adopted as such by English speakers.

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

proper noun Winonas · Wenona · Wenonah · Wynona

  1. A female given name from Dakota, used mainly in the United States. 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 te
  2. A community in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
  3. A locality in Coconino County, Arizona.
  4. An unincorporated community in North Bend Township, Starke County, Indiana.
  5. A city in Logan County, Kansas.
  6. An unincorporated community in Elm River Township, Houghton County, Michigan.
  7. A city, the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota. Eight Flock cameras that were stolen across Winona will not be replaced, the city’s police department announced on Wednesday.
  8. A city, the county seat of Montgomery County, Mississippi.
  9. A city in Shannon County, Missouri.
  10. An unincorporated community in Butler Township, Columbiana County, Ohio.
  11. An unincorporated community in Putnam County, Tennessee.
  12. An unincorporated community in Scott County, Tennessee.
  13. A city in Smith County, Texas.
  14. An unincorporated community in Fayette County, West Virginia.
  15. An unincorporated community in Taylor County, West Virginia.

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MLA

"Winona." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/winona. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Winona. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/winona

Chicago

"Winona." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/winona.

BibTeX
@misc{winona_2026,
  title = {Winona},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/winona},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}