Norah
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Meaning
variant of Nora, short form of Honora/Eleanor
The story
Norah Borges wanted stillness in her pictures, even when her prints were finding their way onto city walls. She worked in drawing, painting and engraving, illustrating avant-garde publications in Spain and Argentina. She also made the cover for Fervor de Buenos Aires, her brother Jorge Luis Borges’s first poetry collection. Recalling the wall magazine Prisma, she described making a woodcut that her brother and other artists pasted around Buenos Aires at night. The street belonged to the print’s circulation; the quiet was her stated wish for the pictures themselves. In its English and Irish tradition, Norah is a form of Nora, which can be shortened from Honora or Eleanor. Borges gives the spelling another precise point of recognition: an artist’s work passing between pages and walls, while she asks the world inside the picture to hold still.
How popular is Norah around the world?
In the United States, 9,203 babies were named Norah between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 258 girls named Norah were born in 2024, the 93rd most common name among girls that year.
Norah is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Scotland, France, New Zealand, England and Wales, South Australia, Ireland, Norway, Austria, Spain, Mexico City, Chile and Brazil.
United States
1 in 2,400
In the United States, 9,203 babies were named Norah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Norah peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. Norah went to 2,032 US babies in 2015 and 1,191 in 2025, 59% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 1,400
In Canada, 258 girls named Norah were born in 2024, the 93rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 1,900
In Scotland, 24 girls named Norah were registered in 2024, the 171st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
France
1 in 2,600
In France, about 245 girls named Norah were born in 2025, the 232nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
New Zealand
1 in 2,700
In New Zealand, 21 girls named Norah were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
England and Wales
1 in 3,000
In England and Wales, 195 girls named Norah were born in 2025, the 240th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 3,1002017
In South Australia, 6 girls were registered as Norah in 2017.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 4,200
In Ireland, 13 girls named Norah were born in 2025, the 304th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Norway
1 in 4,300register 2026
In Norway, 6 girls were given the name Norah in 2025.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Austria
1 in 15,000
In Austria, 5 girls named Norah were born in 2025, the 742nd most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 40,000
In Spain, 1,119 residents are named Norah, ranked 1,398th among women, with a mean age of 15.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Mexico City City
1 in 59,000
In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Norah in 2022.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 180,000
In Chile, 1 girl was registered as Norah in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 112 people in Brazil were named Norah, ranked 38,089th, with a median age of 38.
Among people named Norah living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
last on record 2023
Norah is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
last on record 2007
Norah is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
When you meet Norah
Most people given the name Norah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Norah · Names that go with Norah · Middle names for Norah · Climbers and fallers
The Norah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Norah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Norah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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