Girl from East Virginia (3)
I believe the answer is:
eva
'girl' is the definition.
'east virginia' is the wordplay.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'virginia' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'e'+'va'='EVA'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for eva that I've seen before include "Dame - - Turner, soprano" , "Female" , "-- Braun, Hitler's wife" , "girl appears" , "Braun or Peron, say" .)