Nora or Norah is an English and Irish feminine personal name.
It mainly originates as a short form of Honora, a common Anglo-Norman name,
ultimately derived from the Latin word Honor. In other European use the name
may also originate as a short form of Eleonora or Eleanor. There is a
corresponding Arabic name Nurah, meaning "light", with which Eleanor may ultimately be
connected.
Norah also means "awesome" in Hebrew, as found in the liturgal
poem El Nora Alila. The Irish Nóra is likewise probably an Irish form of
Honora. A less-likely derivation of this Irish name is from the Irish
Fionnualla. A diminutive form of Nóra is Nóirin; this name has numerous
Anglicised forms, such as: Noreen, Norene, and Norine. There is also a
Hungarian feminine personal name "Nóra", with its own independent
etymology.
