Melora
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 322 living Americans carry the first name Melora. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melora today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melora births was 1972 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melora. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
322
~ 1 in 1,064,454 Americans
Peak year
1972
14 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,569
Tracked since 1956
Census
Melora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 400 people with the first name Melora, which placed it at #24,171 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,171
National first-name rank
People counted
400
400 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melora is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Melora described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Melora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.3% · 329
- Black or African American5.8% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 19
- Two or more races4.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Melora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melora from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 103 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melora by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Melora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melora
The name Melora has its origins in the Greek language, stemming from the word "melos," which means "song" or "melody." It is believed to have originated during the ancient Greek period, around the 5th century BCE.
This feminine name was initially associated with the Greek muses, who were the goddesses of the arts and sciences, often portrayed as the inspirations for poets, musicians, and artists. The connection to the concept of melody and song made Melora a fitting name for daughters born into artistic or musically inclined families.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Melora can be found in the ancient Greek play "The Frogs" by Aristophanes, which was first performed in 405 BCE. In this satirical comedy, a character named Melora is mentioned, although her role is not significant.
Throughout history, the name Melora has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded was Melora of Corinth, a prominent Greek painter who lived in the 4th century BCE and was known for her exceptional skill in portraiture.
In the Middle Ages, Melora de Belmont was a French noblewoman and patron of the arts, who lived during the 12th century. She was renowned for her support of troubadours and minstrels, and her court was a hub of cultural activities.
During the Renaissance period, Melora Fiore was an Italian poet and philosopher who lived from 1462 to 1528. Her works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, and she was highly regarded among the intellectual circles of her time.
In the 19th century, Melora Constance Prentiss was an American author and educator who lived from 1828 to 1910. She wrote several novels and short stories, as well as works on education and child-rearing, and was a pioneer in advocating for women's rights and education.
More recently, Melora Hardin is an American actress and singer, born in 1967, who is best known for her roles in popular television shows such as "The Office" and "Transparent." Her name has contributed to the continued use and recognition of the name Melora in modern times.
While the name Melora has ebbed and flowed in popularity over the centuries, its connection to the arts, music, and creativity has remained a consistent theme throughout its history, reflecting the essence of its Greek origins and the enduring allure of its melodious sound.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Melora
People
Melora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melora as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Melora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 322 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melora going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,064,454 US residents.
Is Melora a common name?
We classify Melora as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 358 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melora most popular?
The single biggest year for Melora was 1972, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melora is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 400 people with the name Melora, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,171 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Melora in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Melora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melora appears almost entirely female. Of the 403 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Melora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melora is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Melora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Melora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (329 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Melora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melora a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melora in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Melora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melora in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Melora can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Melora?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.