Norna
A feminine name of Nordic origin meaning "norn" or "destiny".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Norna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Norna today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Norna births was 1953 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Norna. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Norna is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Nornas were born before 1966.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Norna. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1953
6 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1953 SSA rank
#5,481
Tracked since 1926
Census
Norna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Norna, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Norna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Norna is White at 44.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (42.6%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Norna 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 Norna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.0% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino42.6% · 92
- Black or African American5.6% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 4
- Two or more races1.9% · 4
Popularity
Norna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Norna from the 1920s through to the 1950s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Norna 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 Norna 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 Norna
Norna is a feminine given name with its origins in the Old Norse language. It is derived from the Old Norse word "norn," which refers to one of the three female beings in Norse mythology who ruled the destiny of gods and men. The name likely emerged during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries AD, when Old Norse was the common language spoken across Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe.
The norns in Norse mythology were associated with fate and the concept of predetermination. They were depicted as weavers who spun the threads of life, determining the course of events for all beings. The name Norna encapsulates this symbolic representation of fate and destiny from ancient Norse beliefs.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Norna can be found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse anonymous poems compiled in the 13th century. The name appears in the poem "Völuspá," which describes the creation of the world and the eventual fate of gods and men. In this context, the name Norna is used as a personification of fate itself.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Norna. One such figure was Norna-Gest, a legendary Viking warrior and adventurer who lived during the 9th century AD. According to Icelandic sagas, Norna-Gest embarked on numerous daring exploits and was renowned for his bravery and cunning.
Another historical figure with the name Norna was Norna Engel (1859-1935), a German painter and illustrator known for her intricate depictions of nature and folklore. Her works often drew inspiration from Norse mythology and the romantic landscapes of northern Germany.
In the realm of literature, the name Norna was used by the Norwegian author Jonas Lie (1833-1908) for a character in his novel "The Pilot and His Wife." The character Norna was a strong-willed and independent woman who defied societal norms of the time.
More recently, Norna Mørk (born 1991) is a professional handball player from Norway who has represented her country in numerous international competitions, including the Olympic Games and World Championships.
While the name Norna may have its roots in ancient Norse mythology, it has endured through the centuries and continues to be used as a given name in modern times, particularly in Scandinavian countries and regions with strong Nordic cultural influences.
People
Norna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Norna 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
Norna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Norna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Norna 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Norna a common name?
We classify Norna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Norna most popular?
The single biggest year for Norna was 1953, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Norna is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Norna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Norna, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Norna 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 Norna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Norna appears almost entirely female. Of the 217 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Norna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Norna is White at 44.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (42.6%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Norna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Norna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.0% (95 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 Norna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Norna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Norna 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 Norna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Norna 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 Norna 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 Americans are named Norna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.