How rare is the name Nora?

119,144 people in the United States have the first name Nora, about 1 in 2,535. It ranks #473 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NORA

#473

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
119,144
About
1 in 2,535
This common or more
57.4%
Who bears it

Of the 119,144 people named Nora, 64.1% reported their origin as White, 24.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 3.8% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nora peaked in 2025, when 6,386 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
6,386
In 2025*
6,386
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 193,922 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Nora by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #78. The largest share of babies named Nora, 38%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#826,557
1890s#918,336
1900s#1287,236
1910s#24811,173
1920s#30912,419
1930s#3669,041
1940s#4119,480
1950s#44611,603
1960s#5389,582
1970s#7005,775
1980s#7505,584
1990s#8715,542
2000s#59010,927
2010s#14844,088
2020s#7836,579
Before 19018.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–2714.3%
Silent Generation 1928–458.4%
Baby boom 1946–6411.2%
Generation X 1965–805.3%
Millennials 1981–964.6%
Generation Z 1997–1210.1%
2013 and later38%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Nora is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nora has been most common in Kentucky (1.5×), Minnesota (1.5×), and New Hampshire (1.4×), and least common in California (0.7×).

167,937 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Nora

#471 Xavier · 119,289#472 Destiny · 119,198#474 Brent · 119,140#475 Melinda · 118,796

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Nora, most common first.

#1,429 Norah · 23,775#8,164 Nori · 1,790#9,447 Noura · 1,469#12,315 Noora · 1,014#18,901 Nor · 566#20,072 Nory · 518#30,390 Noria · 287#40,999 Nohra · 180

Also a last name

As a last name, Nora ranks #24,912 of 156,621, with 1,044 people. See Nora as a last name

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