Crossword Genius

Boy turned into girl (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nadia

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'girl' is the definition.

'boy turned' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'boy' could be 'ad' and 'ad' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'nia' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'into' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nadia that I've seen before include "(Originally Russian) female name (reverse of Irish male name)" , "Miss" , "Foreign woman" , "Russian woman" , "___ Comaneci, Romanian-born American gymnast" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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