Bora

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Browne in US United States, GB United Kingdom, AU Australia and 10 more, Bera in IN India, ES Spain, KE Kenya and 1 more, Brown in TH Thailand, LA Laos and Bala in NG Nigeria.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bora is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Turkish surname115K records spelled Bora6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, India, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Borà, Borä, Bóra

• English given name25K records spelled Bora28 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Nigeria, United States, India, United Kingdom

  Languages: English, German, Chinese

  Also written Bola, Bolae, Bo-Ra, 'Bola, Bolá

• a separate surname16K records spelled Bora4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Ethiopia, Türkiye

  Also written Bo-Ra, Borā, Börä

• Portuguese surname10K records spelled Bora10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, India, Argentina, Philippines

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Borá, Bõrã, Bõřą, Bo-Ra, Bořa

• Hindi surname10K records spelled Bora59 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Israel, United States, Türkiye

  Languages: Hindi, Bangla, Indonesian

  Also written Borah, בורה, Boora, বৰা, Buraa

65 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bora is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Turkish, Genellikle arkasından yağmur getiren sert ve şiddetli fırtına.

  as a word·TDK Kişi Adları Sözlüğü (official Turkish given-name dictionary)

• Czech: short form of Barbora (see BARBARA ), used as a pet name.

  as a word

• In Yoruba, to bleach one's skin; to lighten one's skin

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, An initiation ceremony for males among the Aboriginal people of New South Wales.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Hausa, less-favored wife, wife who is not her husband's favorite

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 91 years between 1918–2017. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Katharina von Borab. 1499DEwife of Martin Luther (1499-1552)
• Bogdan Borab. 1920GBBritish writer
• Ekrem Borab. 1932TRTurkish actor (1932–2012)
• Lakshmi Nandan Borab. 1932INIndian writer (1932-2021)
• Mevlüt Borab. 1947TRTurkish cyclist (born 1947)
• Salih Borab. 1953TRTurkish wrestler (born 1953)
• Eko Freshb. 1983DEnot in their usual nameTurkish-German rapper and actor
• Vedat Borab. 1995TRTurkish association football player (born 1995)
• Erimşah Borab. 1998TRTurkish actor (born 1998)
• Ionut BoraRORomanian film actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 527 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bora?

We estimate roughly 1.8 million people bear Bora (counting its spellings and scripts) across 15 countries in our records.

In which country does Bora have the most bearers?

We estimate about 1.4 million people bear Bora in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled browne.

Where is Bora most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Bora is densest in St. Kitts & Nevis — about 1 in 50 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Bora compared with other names?

In St. Vincent & Grenadines, Bora is the most common surname of 1,182 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Bora mean?

Recorded meaning: dative singular of bor