How Many People Are Named Nora?
An estimated 122,656 people in the United States have the first name Nora. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #448 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 25 years old, and Nora peaked in popularity in 2021 with 6,276 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nora as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Nora paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Nora is overwhelmingly female, 778 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
122,656
About 1 in 2,794 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
25
years old
Peak Year
2021
6,276 births
Total Registered
187,497
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nora
Nora is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 187,497 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
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)
Nora: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nora span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 44,086 babies were registered. While Nora is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Nora by Decade
How has Nora tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6,557 | 36 | 6,521 | |
| 1890s | 8,336 | 43 | 8,293 | |
| 1900s | 7,236 | 64 | 7,172 | |
| 1910s | 11,173 | 110 | 11,063 | |
| 1920s | 12,419 | 121 | 12,298 | |
| 1930s | 9,041 | 115 | 8,926 | |
| 1940s | 9,480 | 75 | 9,405 | |
| 1950s | 11,603 | 63 | 11,540 | |
| 1960s | 9,582 | 61 | 9,521 | |
| 1970s | 5,776 | 5 | 5,771 | |
| 1980s | 5,584 | 52 | 5,532 | |
| 1990s | 5,542 | 10 | 5,532 | |
| 2000s | 10,925 | 5 | 10,920 | |
| 2010s | 44,086 | 12 | 44,074 | |
| 2020s | 30,157 | 6 | 30,151 | |
Nora by State
Birth registrations for Nora span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Delaware, Vermont. On average, about 3,167 Noras were registered per state.
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.
Names Similar to Nora
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nora: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nora?
We estimate approximately 122,656 people named Nora are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 2,794 Americans share this first name.
Is Nora a common name?
Nora is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 187,497 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nora most popular?
Nora reached peak popularity in 2021, when 6,276 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nora is approximately 25 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nora a female name?
Nora is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nora Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nora Smith, Nora Johnson, Nora Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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