Nora

Girl · Latin and uncertain

Nora

Say it: NOH-rah

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Meaning

A short form of Eleonora or Honora; Honora is Latin 'honour', while Eleonora's origin is uncertain.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Made famous in Scandinavia by Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879) and one of Norway's most popular names in the 21st century.

Its wave through time

A revival, back after decades away

In the United States

162,851 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1887, about 1 in 199 girls
5,555 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Norwegian Swedish Danish

The family of the name

English	Norah
Irish	Nóra

Famous bearers

Nora Helmer, heroine of Ibsen's A Doll's House

Names worth a look

IdaGirlGermanic, probably from id 'work, labour'.Middle Ages · peak 1886

HildaGirlShort form of names containing Germanic hild 'battle'.Early Medieval · peak 1903

RandiGirlA Norwegian development of Old Norse Ragnfríðr: regin 'the gods, counsel' and fríðr 'beautiful, beloved'.Middle Ages · peak 1982 · forgotten

ElsaGirlShort form of Elisabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva.Middle Ages · peak 1895

KarinGirlA Swedish short form of Katarina (Catherine). The root is unknown; the popular meaning 'pure' comes from a later…Middle Ages · peak 1969

SelmaGirlUncertain. It may come from Selma, the hall of Fingal in James Macpherson's Ossian poems, which made it fashionable…Victorian · peak 1891

NormaGirlPopularised by Bellini's opera Norma (1831), whose heroine's name may be from Latin norma 'rule'; the librettist's…Victorian · peak 1931

NormanBoyGermanic 'north man', originally a name for Scandinavians and later for the people of Normandy.Viking & Saxon · peak 1931

Where this comes from

Well-known works of literature
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.