Nora

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Noreen in US United States, NO Norway, GB United Kingdom and 4 more, Норин in RU Russia and โนรี in TH Thailand.

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 21 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◐

Nora is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name1.0M records spelled Nora61 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Germany

  Languages: English, German, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Nóra, Noera, Norà, Nôra, Nòra

• Hungarian given name400K records spelled Nora6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Nôra, Ñôrâ, Nóra

• French given name208K records spelled Nora16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Philippines

  Also written Nóra, Norâ, Norã, Nõrą, Ńora

• a separate given name43K records spelled Nora5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Morocco

  Also written Nóra, Norà, Nòra, Norá

• Indonesian given name29K records spelled Nora11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Nora, Nora', Ñörā, Nóra, Nőrå

• Russian given name18K records spelled Nora80 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Croatia, United States, Ukraine

  Languages: Russian, Croatian, Polish

  Also written Нора, Nura, Noura, Norah, Nóra

• Latvian given name3.1K records spelled Nora10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Latvia, United States, Lithuania, Philippines

  Languages: Latvian, Lithuanian

  Also written Nordas, Siaure, Nóra, Ñörã, Nord

• Korean given name2.0K records spelled Nora6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Korea, Malaysia, United Kingdom

  Also written Norah, 노라, Nöra, Nóra, 놀아

76 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●

Nora 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 French, Short form of Honora/Eleonora; also from Arabic nūr 'light'.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Short form of Honora/Eleonora; from Latin honor or Greek Helenē depending on source.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• habitational name from any of the numerous places called Nora, from nora ‘draw well’.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• perhaps a habitational name from localities named Nora in Modica and Scicli.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• from a short form of the feminine personal name (E)leonora.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Nora Riccib. 1924ITItalian actress (1924-1976)
• Nora Ephronb. 1941USAmerican film director and writer (1941–2012)
• Nora Dunnb. 1952USAmerican actress and comedian
• Nora Miaob. 1952CNHong Kong actress
• Nora Twomeyb. 1971IEIrish film director
• N. K. Jemisinb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican science fiction and fantasy writer
• Nora Salinasb. 1976MXMexican actress and model
• Nora Zehetnerb. 1981USAmerican actress
• Awkwafinab. 1988USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress, comedian, and rapper
• Nora Arnezederb. 1989FRFrench actress and singer

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 · 1,666 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Nora?

We estimate roughly 241 thousand people bear Nora (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Nora have the most bearers?

Nora is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled nora.

Where is Nora most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Nora is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 283 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Nora compared with other names?

In Argentina, Nora is the 228th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Nora a male or female name?

Nora is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Nora mean?

Recorded meaning: Abbreviation of Eleonora or Leonora; in Ireland, also of Honora/Honoria.