Nora

What Nora means

Form of Eleanor, possibly meaning “other”

form of Eleanor || The first known bearer was Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204), Provençal Aliénor, perhaps from Latin alia (“other”) and her mother's name Aenor, its meaning thereby said to be “the other Aenor”.

Source: Wiktionary, “Nora” (revision 90338835) and “Eleanor” (revision 89333856), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nora?

US: Rising: up from #41 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #305 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1881, when 498 girls got the name (#55 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 252 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 411 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 365 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (22.59 per 1,000 girls), NH (13.43 per 1,000 girls), MT (13.1 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Nora is #20 in the US and #75 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Nora were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Norah1,191 US · 195 E&W
• Nori193 US · 16 E&W
• Nyra147 US · 55 E&W
• Noura83 US · 94 E&W
• Noora58 US · 50 E&W
• Nara72 US · 34 E&W
• Naira77 US · 29 E&W
• Nura49 US · 42 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Norah

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Nora

Girls

• Charlie#133Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #133 vs #747 in 2025
• Charlotte#2Form of Charles, meaning “free man”^*
• Hazel#21From the word “hazel”^*
• Lena#279“the Large River”^*
• Ember#154Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #366 in 2015, #154 in 2025
• Raelynn#116Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #116 vs #2,440 in 2025

For a brother

• Everett#77Same root as Everard, meaning “wild boar + hard, brave”^*
• Jameson#137Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #137 vs #1,093 in 2025
• Oliver#3Editor’s note Up from #19 in 2015 to #3 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 110 US boys in the 2025 records
• Barrett#171Editor’s note 2,138 US babies in 2025, but under 3 in England & Wales
• Leo#19“lion”^*
• Henry#5Editor’s note Up from #29 in 2015 to #5 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 140 US boys in the 2025 records

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nora’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.