Head to head · Girls' names
Camila vs Nora
#19 vs #20 in 2025
Camila is a whisker ahead (#19 vs #20 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Camila is stepping back from its peak, Nora is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Nora has the edge.
Cast your vote2 votes
Which one would you pick?
2 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Camila and Nora each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Camila —, Nora #57 — Nora higher
- 1890s: Camila —, Nora #69 — Nora higher
- 1900s: Camila —, Nora #94 — Nora higher
- 1910s: Camila #3402, Nora #141 — Nora higher
- 1920s: Camila #3875, Nora #178 — Nora higher
- 1930s: Camila #4090, Nora #199 — Nora higher
- 1940s: Camila #3979, Nora #223 — Nora higher
- 1950s: Camila #4649, Nora #240 — Nora higher
- 1960s: Camila #4164, Nora #293 — Nora higher
- 1970s: Camila #4077, Nora #378 — Nora higher
- 1980s: Camila #3185, Nora #410 — Nora higher
- 1990s: Camila #1303, Nora #459 — Nora higher
- 2000s: Camila #295, Nora #327 — Camila higher
- 2010s: Camila #37, Nora #70 — Camila higher
- 2020s: Camila #13, Nora #25 — Camila higher
Nora stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Camila has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Camila | Nora |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #57 |
| 1890s | — | #69 |
| 1900s | — | #94 |
| 1910s | #3402 | #141 |
| 1920s | #3875 | #178 |
| 1930s | #4090 | #199 |
| 1940s | #3979 | #223 |
| 1950s | #4649 | #240 |
| 1960s | #4164 | #293 |
| 1970s | #4077 | #378 |
| 1980s | #3185 | #410 |
| 1990s | #1303 | #459 |
| 2000s | #295 | #327 |
| 2010s | #37 | #70 |
| 2020s | #13 | #25 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Camila
Not charting outside the US.
Nora
- Canada#14
- France#84
- England & Wales#86
- Scotland#86
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Camila
From Latin camillus/camilla, a young attendant at a religious ceremony
The Latin word camilla — a child who assisted a priest at sacrifices — is well documented, and most reference works read the name straight from it. Where the Latin word itself came from is not settled; a number of scholars trace it to Etruscan, the language Rome borrowed many names from, in which case the original sense is lost. Both readings are respectable, and neither can be proved out.
Camillus → Camilla → Camila
How it traveled
The name begins as a Roman cognomen, Camillus for men and Camilla for women, carried by one of the old patrician families of the Republic. Virgil's Aeneid, written in the first century BC, fixed Camilla in the literary memory of Europe, and the name survived through medieval and Catholic Italy, where Camilla with two l's is still standard.
Nora
Depends on the longer name behind it: "honor" or "light"
Nora is a shortened form, and it has more than one parent. From Honora, the Anglo-Norman and Irish name built on Latin honor, it carries the sense of "honor". From Eleanora and Leonora it inherits those names' own unsettled history. And Arabic Nura, from nur, "light", reaches the same spelling by a completely separate road. All three are in real use, which is why no single meaning can be given for the spelling alone.
Honoria → Honora → Nóra → Nora
How it traveled
The clearest line runs through Latin Honoria and Honorata to Honora, which the Normans brought to Ireland, where it became one of the most-used women's names for centuries in the forms Nóra and Nóirín. Irish emigration carried it to America, which is why it has never been absent from US records.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Camila
kuh-MEE-luh
In Spanish, kah-MEE-lah, with all three vowels fully sounded. Both are widely used in the United States and neither needs correcting. The Italian Camilla differs: there the stress sits on -MIL- with a doubled l.
- Cami — The most common short form in English and Spanish alike; also spelled Cammy or Camy.
- Mila — Taken from the second half of the name; also a full given name in its own right, and currently common as one.
- Cam — Clipped and informal, more often heard from friends and teammates than from family.
- Camilita — Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families rather than in writing.
- Also Cami-Cam.
Nora
NOR-uh
Stress on the first syllable everywhere it is used. In Irish, Nóra sounds much the same; the Arabic Nura is closer to NOO-rah, which is a different name meeting the same spelling.
- Nonie — The long-standing family pet form for Nora and Honora alike; informal, rarely written down.
- Norie — Informal, mostly spoken within the family; does not stand alone as a given name.
- No — A playground clip; useful to know it exists before someone else finds it.
Who has carried each name
Camila
Camila Cabello (b. 1997) — Pop star whose "Havana" topped charts worldwide
Camila Mendes (b. 1994) — Riverdale's Veronica Lodge
Nora
Nora Ephron (b. 1941) — Wrote When Harry Met Sally and directed Sleepless in Seattle
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Camila if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsCamila is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itCamila runs 3 syllables, Nora 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Cami, Mila and Cam
- a newer arrivalCamila entered the US charts in 1914
Choose Nora if you want…
- a name on the way upup 10 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesNora is 2 syllables to Camila's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooNora is on the national lists of Canada, France, England & Wales and Scotland
- a long American recordNora was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Camila
Strengths
- Recognized on sight across Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English, with a matching form in most of Europe — useful in a bilingual family.
- A documented record stretching from Roman family names through Virgil to the present day, with no gap in use.
- Established short forms already in circulation: Cami, Mila, Cam, and the Spanish Camilita.
To consider
- The double-l Camilla is the older English and Italian spelling, so expect a spare l to be added by people writing it from hearing it.
- Its rise here is recent and steep, which means it currently reads as a name of children rather than of adults — that will even out as this generation grows.
- Mila and Cami are both popular in their own right, so the nickname may be shared in a classroom even when the full name is not.
Nora
Strengths
- Spells itself. Four letters, one obvious pronunciation, no silent anything — a rare combination for a name this old.
- Unbroken presence in US records since the charts began, so it has never needed reviving and has no single decade attached to it.
- Works in French, English, Italian, Hungarian, Albanian, Arabic and the Scandinavian languages with little or no adjustment.
To consider
- Norah with an h is equally established, so she will spend her life confirming which one she is. Neither spelling is the odd one.
- The rise has been steep and is still going. A name that feels uncrowded now may be sharing the classroom register in a few years.
- It sits in a busy sound-neighborhood — Nova, Nola, Cora, Norah — and mishearings in noisy rooms are common.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Camila
83%chance Camila feels dated by 2040
Camila is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 2020). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Nora
63%chance Nora feels dated by 2040
Nora is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Camila and Nora in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Camila and Nora?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Camila and Nora — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Camila or Nora — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Camila or Nora?
- Camila, in 2025: Camila ranked #19 with 6,591 babies; Nora ranked #20 with 6,380 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Camila or Nora?
- Nora. Over the last five years Camila moved down 8 places; Nora moved up 10 places.
- Which is the older name, Camila or Nora?
- Camila entered the US charts in 1914; Nora was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Nora is the older name.
- How many people are named Camila and Nora?
- About 123,000 people named Camila are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 134,000 people named Nora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Camilas or Noras in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Camila. Nora will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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