Nora
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly derived from the Greek word for "light".
Roughly 122,656 people in the United States go by the first name Nora, which ranks #22 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nora today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nora births was 2021 (6,276 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Layla (122,572).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nora. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nora with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Nora is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 778 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
123K
~ 1 in 2,794 Americans
Peak year
2021
6,276 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2020 SSA rank
#22
Tracked since 1880
Census
Nora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 119,138 people with the first name Nora, which placed it at #474 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
#474
National first-name rank
People counted
119K
119,138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
39.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nora is White at 64.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%). 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 Nora 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 Nora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.1% · 76,333
- Hispanic or Latino24.2% · 28,851
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 4,531
- Black or African American3.7% · 4,445
- Two or more races3.6% · 4,231
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 747
Gender
Gender distribution for Nora
Out of the 187,497 babies given the name Nora since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Nora as a male name
- Ranked #11,589 in 2020
- 6 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1920 (17 births)
Nora as a female name
- Ranked #22 in 2024
- 6,128 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (6,276 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nora appears almost entirely female. Of the 119,144 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Nora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nora from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 44,086 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nora remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nora 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 Nora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Noras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Nora, while Wyoming, Delaware, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,167 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nora
The name Nora has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is a contracted form of the name Honora, which was derived from the Latin word "honor" meaning honor or respect. The name Nora first appeared in use during the medieval period in Europe.
Nora was a relatively uncommon name throughout much of its early history. However, it gained greater popularity in the 19th century, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nora was in the play "A Doll's House" by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, which was first published in 1879. The central character in the play is named Nora Helmer.
Another notable early use of the name Nora was by the American author James Fenimore Cooper, who used it for a character in his novel "The Pioneers," published in 1823. This helped to further popularize the name in the United States.
One of the most famous historical figures named Nora was Nora Barnacle, the wife of the renowned Irish writer James Joyce. Nora Barnacle was born in 1884 and played a significant role in Joyce's life and literary works.
Another notable Nora was Nora Stanton Blatch, an American civil engineer, suffragist, and women's rights activist. She was born in 1883 and was a key figure in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States.
Nora Ephron, the acclaimed American writer, filmmaker, and journalist, was also a prominent bearer of the name. She was born in 1941 and is known for her iconic works such as the films "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle."
Throughout history, the name Nora has been associated with qualities such as honor, respect, and strength. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its rich cultural heritage and the notable individuals who have carried the name over the centuries.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Nora
People
Nora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nora as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 122,656 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nora 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 2,794 US residents.
Is Nora a common name?
We classify Nora as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 187,497 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nora most popular?
The single biggest year for Nora was 2021, when 6,276 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nora is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 119,138 people with the name Nora, or 39.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #474 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 Nora 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 Nora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nora appears almost entirely female. Of the 119,144 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Nora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nora is White at 64.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%). 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 Nora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.1% (76,333 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 Nora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nora a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Nora 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 Nora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nora 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 Nora 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 are called Nora?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.