Malvina

Not to be confused with Malvinas.

This article is about a feminine Gaelic name. For the place, see Malvina, Mississippi. For other uses, see Malvina (disambiguation).

Malvina is a feminine given name derived from the Gaelic mala mhinn, meaning "smooth brow". It was popularized by the 18th century Scottish poet James Macpherson. The name became popular in Scandinavia on account of Napoleon, an admirer of Macpherson's Ossianic poetry, who was the godfather of several children of Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, an officer of his who ruled Norway and Sweden in the early 19th century. Other names popularised by Macpherson became popular in Scandinavia on account of Napoleon. The Argentinian name for the Falkland Islands, Las Malvinas, is not etymologically related to Malvina, but is instead derived from the name of St Malo, a seaport in Brittany.

Variant forms of the Malvina include: Malwine, Malvine, Malwida, Malve, Malviina, Mal, and Malvin.

People

• Malvina Bolus (1906–1997), Canadian historian, art collector, editor of the Hudson's Bay Company magazine "The Beaver"
• Malvina Garrigues (Schnorr von Carolsfeld) (1825–1904), Danish-German operatic soprano
• Malvina Hoffman (1887–1966), American sculptor
• Malvina Longfellow (1889–1962), American stage and silent movie actress
• Malvina Major (born 1943), New Zealand singer
• Malvina Pastorino (1916-1994), Argentine film actress
• Malvina Reynolds (1900–1978), American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist