Lenore
Feminine
Lenore is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 22,968 girls against 6 boys since 1880.
Lenore is Eleanor shortened, and English readers know it from one poem above all — the lost Lenore of The Raven, whom the bird will not let the narrator forget.
How old is the name Lenore?
Lenore was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lenore alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 9,800 people named Lenore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lenore most popular?
Lenore peaked in 1915, reaching #309 nationally. Today it ranks #1962, 1,653 places below that high. See the whole 1915 chart.
Where it comes from
From Alienor to Lenore
The story of Lenore
Gottfried Bürger's ballad Lenore of 1773 was one of the most influential poems of the German Romantic movement and was translated across Europe. Poe used the name twice — in a poem of its own and in The Raven of 1845, where the refrain 'nevermore' answers a question about Lenore. American use rose through the nineteenth century and peaked around 1920.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Through Eleanor, whose origin is unsettled. The commonest account treats it as a Provençal form of Helen, whose own Greek origin is itself unrecovered. Another reads the first element as the Germanic ali, 'other'. Nothing is established, and the name's fame rests on literature rather than etymology.
How the name formed
- Alienor
- Eleanor
- Lenore
Related forms: Lenore · Leonora · Leonor
Pronouncing Lenore
luh-NOR
Two syllables, stress on the second. German says le-NO-re with three.
Nicknames for Lenore
Moderate
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
- 1927459 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #309reached in 1915
- Change vs 2022
- +28.9%98 in 2025, from 76
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.
Lenore in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lenore in German — same name
- Leonora in Italian — related form
- Leonor in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Illinois.
Lenores among us
people named Lenore are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 16,401 born in 2025 was named Lenore
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
Lenore is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lenore is headed
Lenore looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 22% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Lenore beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lenore in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Eleanor stands behind it with eight hundred years of documented English use.
- It carries two of the most famous poems in the Romantic tradition.
- Nora is available as a short form with real currency now.
- Eleanor's own meaning is genuinely unrecovered.
- The Poe association is strong and is a poem about grief.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century in American records.
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What they receive
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Lenore
Feminine · #1962 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lenores are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,800 people named Lenore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lenore in 2025?
- Lenore ranks #1962 among US girl names in 2025, with 98 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lenore?
- About 1 in every 16,401 US girls born in 2025 was named Lenore — 98 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lenore with classmates?
- Lenore will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lenore
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Romee#1962 · Janiya#1962 · Lucianna#1962 · Stormy#1962 · Asiyah#1962 · Kaori#1962 · Alanni#1962 · Tia#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lenore? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lenore and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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