Honora
Feminine · “Latin "honor”
Honora is Latin honor with a name's ending, and it has a specifically Irish history. Norman families brought it to Ireland, where it became Onóra and then Nóra, and it was so common in nineteenth-century Ireland that Nora and Norah are now read as Irish names rather than as Latin ones.
How old is the name Honora?
Honora was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Honora alive today was born around 1945, making them about 80 years old. About 900 people named Honora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Honora most popular?
Honora peaked in 1881, reaching #582 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 6,551 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From honor to Honora
The story of Honora
Honora came to Ireland with the Anglo-Normans and was gaelicised as Onóra; by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was among the commonest women's names in the country, usually shortened to Nóra or Nano. Irish emigration then carried it to America in enormous numbers, which is why the 1881 American peak is so high — this is an immigrant name at the height of its community's arrival. It faded as Nora, its own short form, took over completely.
Meaning
Latin "honor, esteem"
From Latin honor, honor or public esteem, the same word behind honest, honorary and honorable. Honoria and Honorata are late Roman names and Honorius was a fifth-century emperor and several popes. The etymology is settled. Nora derives from it by clipping, though Nora is also independently a short form of Eleanor and of Leonora.
How the name formed
- honor
- Honoria
- Honora
- Nora
Related forms: Onóra · Honoria · Onoria · Honorine
Pronouncing Honora
oh-NOR-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The initial h is silent in the Irish tradition and often in English too. Latin would give ho-NOH-ra with the h sounded.
Nicknames for Honora
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 191826 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #582reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- +50.0%15 in 2025, from 10
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Honora in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Onóra in Irish — same name
- Honoria in Latin — related form
- Onoria in Italian — same name
- Honorine in French — related form
Honoras among us
people named Honora are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Honora
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Honora sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Honora beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Honora in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, brief and entirely positive.
- Nora and Honor are both complete names available inside it.
- It has a genuine Irish history of very long standing.
- Nora is far more common and will be assumed as the real name.
- The initial h is sounded by some speakers and not by others.
- The 1880s peak makes it a revival.
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What they receive
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Honora
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Honoras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Honora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Honora in 2025?
- Honora ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Honora?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Honora — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Honora with classmates?
- Honora will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Honora
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Honora? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Honora and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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