Except for Gambian Food and Nutrition Association and a persons name,
what does Gafna mean? I mean except for some weird meaning of a
newborn girls name. Does "Gafna" have a distinct meaning in a language
somewhere or does it mean something concrete in some culture? (This is
not a trade mark related question)

Hello trephin,

It indeed seems that Robert (comments below), was on the right track.
The word in question does mean 'vine'. It is Hebrew, and a feminine
version of the word 'GEFEN'.

Hebrew Letters
http://www.hebrewletters.com/item.cfm?itemid=4891

I wanted to make sure I was giving you the correct answer, so I
started searching for reference to the word 'GEFEN' as well. Here is
what I found:

"The vine is a common simile for Israel, Isa 5:1-10; Ezekiel 17:6ff.
This is GEFEN in the hebrew."
http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/hosea/hos30.html

Here is a picture of a grape vine with the caption 'Vine - (GEFEN)'
http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/botany/judaism.htm

I was able to find yet another site that lists the meaning of 'IVY'.
It comes from Middle English origin and means 'VINE'. Listed on the
site are the Hebrew equivalents: "Gafna, Gafnit, Gefen, Karmel,
Karmela, Soreka".

I hope this answers your question. Should you need further
clarification, please feel free to ask before rating this answer, as I
would love to offer further assistance.

To help with this answer I searched Google for :

gafna means
://www.google.com/search?q=gafna+means

hebrew "gefen" meaning "gafna"
://www.google.com/search?q=hebrew+%22gefen%22+meaning+%22gafna%22

Thanks for the interesting question!
SgtCory

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Clarification of Answer by sgtcory-ga on 06 Nov 2002 16:44 PST

Hello again,

The first link should have been this :

Hebrew Letters for 'Gafna'
http://www.hebrewletters.com/item.cfm?itemid=2938

With the second link to the word IVY being listed up top of the answer by mistake.

Sorry about this minor error on my part.

Thanks again!
SgtCory

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Clarification of Answer by sgtcory-ga on 06 Nov 2002 16:46 PST

Trephin -

Thanks for both the generous rating and the tip! I appreciate it beyond words.

SgtCory

A site which proposes pet names says that gafna is Hebrew for vine. 
http://www.geocities.com/names4pets/fg.html

It is not a word mentioned in English versions of the Bible, and
therefore not a true biblical name.

It means something to followers of whichever fantasty world this
encyclopedia is for:

Gafna: Meal common in Lishun and Antares. Minced meat and berries
packaged in dough, flavored with local spices and baked in an oven.
Served with a delicate, yellow sauce
http://www.pemaquidsolutions.com/library/g.htm

I have found the term 'gafna' refernced in several pages that are in
Maltese.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to translate.

Hope this helps!

-THV