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Ginevra

Today's name: Ginevra

Potential nicknames: Gin, Ginny, Ever, Eve, Eva, Nev, Evra

Pronunciation: jin-EV-ra, juh-NEV-ra

Origin: (1) Italian, variant Guinevere, meaning "smooth" and "fair."

Popularity: Unbelievably (and you'll see why in my "fun fact" for today) there were only 15 baby girls named Ginevra in 2010 in the U.S., and only 6 in 2011, according to the Social Security Administration's extended list of baby names. Simply unbelievable. The nickname/name Ginny actually beat it out with 21 births.

Fun fact: (1) Ginevra is a character in the Harry Potter series, Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley. (2) Ginevra de' Benci was a 15th century aristocrat from Florence, Italy. She was known then for her intelligence, and known now for being the subject of one of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings. (3) Ginevra King was an American socialite that served as muse for F. Scott Fitzgerald in some of his novels. She, her mother, and her grandmother, were named after da Vinci's painting of Ginevra de' Benci.

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