The Niña (the Spanish word for "girl") was one of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage towards the Indies in 1492. The real name of the Niña was Santa Clara. The name Niña was probably a pun on the name of her owner, Juan Niño. She was a caravel-type vessel.
The other ships of the Columbus expedition were the Pinta and the Santa María. The Niña was by far Columbus' favorite. She was originally three-mast lateen sail rigged caravela latina, but she was re-rigged as caravela redonda at Azores with square sails for better ocean performance.

History
On Columbus' first expedition, the Niña carried 24 men, captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. They left Palos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, stopping at the Canary Islands on August 12, 1492, and continued westward. Landfall was made in the Bahamas at dawn on October 12, 1492. After running the Santa Maria aground, Columbus returned on the Niña in early 1493, arriving in Palos de la Frontera on March 15.
The Niña joined a grand fleet of 17 ships for the second voyage to Hispaniola, becoming the flagship for an exploration of Cuba. She was the only ship to survive the 1495 hurricane, returning quickly to Spain in 1496.
The Niña was then chartered for an unauthorized voyage to Rome. She was captured by a corsair when leaving the port of Cagliari and brought to Cape Pula, Sardinia. The Captain, Alonso Medel, escaped with a few men. He stole a boat, rowed back to Niña, and made sail, returning to Cadiz.
In 1498 she returned to Hispaniola as advance guard of Columbus' Third Voyage. She was lying in wait at Santo Domingo in 1500. In 1501 she made a trading voyage to the Pearl Coast and there is no further log of her.
The Niña logged at least 25,000 nautical miles (46,000 km) under Columbus' command.