Nora

Did you know?

A few things about Nora you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Nora

Nora Ephron

American film director and writer (1941–2012)

Choose Nora and your child shares a first name with Nora Ephron, an American film director and writer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Nora, like who?” Nora Ephron's Wikipedia article is available in 69 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Nora Ephron on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 252 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Nora, 6,380 babies in all. In a school of 500 kids, there'd probably be one other Nora.
• 📜HistoryNora has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Noras, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearNora is at its all-time high right now: #20 in 2025.
• 📈Then vs nowNora is 13× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 3,362 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 252.
• 📍Where it's lovedNora is the #4 girl name in 2 states, including Minnesota, Vermont and Vermont. It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningNora is an Irish form of Honora, which means “honor”.
• 🌍OriginNora is the most popular Gaelic girl name in the US. That's out of 189 Gaelic girl and unisex names in our list.

About the name Nora

Nora is a girl name of Gaelic origin meaning “honor”. It has 4 letters and 2 syllables, starting with N and ending in “-ora”. US birth records list Nora for girls from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 2025, when it ranked #20 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #20, with 6,380 babies.

Origin:Gaelic names