Aurora Name Meaning

When it comes to beautiful meanings, Aurora hit the jackpot with “goddess of dawn.” In addition, she is also the name of the stunning phenomena known as the Northern Lights.

Celestial names are rising on the girl charts, with Luna, Nova, and Stella all picking up steam in recent years. Parents are looking to the skies for influence and loving what they’re finding. The name of the goddess of dawn, Aurora is no exception. A once oddball name for nature lovers, her slow spread in popularity has made her more and more familiar and lovable in time with the general public.

Aurora is similar in sound to Aria or Aurelia but has the added bonus of being a princess name. In Sleeping Beauty, it was dear Aurora who fell into the fateful slumber. Disney lovers especially will rejoice in this hidden princess name, a less obvious nod to their passion than Belle or Ariel. In addition, Gilmore Girl fans will jump for joy over her adorable nickname of Rory. Other potential nicknames include the cool Aura and the precious Rora.

Aurora is very much a confident name, proud of her meaning and origins. She isn’t a delicate name that folds under pressure. She stands tall, aging gracefully into adulthood.

A French variant of the name is Aurore and an alternative spelling is Arora.

Infographic of Aurora name meaning, which is Meaning goddess of dawn, Aurora is a Latin name.
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Aurora Name Popularity

How popular is the name Aurora? Here’s everything we know.

  • In 2018 Aurora was the 44th most popular girls name, representing 0.3483% of girl births in the U.S.

  • Since 1910 Aurora has been the 500th most popular girls name, representing 0.0354% of girl births in the U.S.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 464 41 0.0116%
1911 442 48 0.0129%
1912 434 74 0.0147%
1913 518 60 0.0106%
1914 526 74 0.0106%
1915 472 127 0.014%
1916 459 151 0.0156%
1917 455 157 0.0157%
1918 444 182 0.017%
1919 428 193 0.0184%
1920 400 231 0.0208%
1921 364 295 0.0258%
1922 382 247 0.0222%
1923 353 311 0.0278%
1924 357 323 0.0278%
1925 366 307 0.0272%
1926 366 295 0.0268%
1927 349 334 0.0302%
1928 351 335 0.0313%
1929 344 322 0.0311%
1930 367 291 0.0279%
1931 393 228 0.0231%
1932 395 230 0.0233%
1933 427 188 0.0202%
1934 435 184 0.019%
1935 434 180 0.0185%
1936 435 170 0.0176%
1937 458 161 0.0163%
1938 459 171 0.0167%
1939 476 153 0.015%
1940 501 140 0.0132%
1941 504 142 0.0126%
1942 470 199 0.0158%
1943 469 204 0.0156%
1944 480 177 0.0143%
1945 458 195 0.016%
1946 521 183 0.0124%
1947 499 228 0.0137%
1948 551 176 0.011%
1949 580 156 0.0097%
1950 536 186 0.0116%
1951 599 161 0.0095%
1952 580 177 0.0101%
1953 616 160 0.009%
1954 677 142 0.0078%
1955 669 149 0.0081%
1956 715 134 0.0071%
1957 742 136 0.0071%
1958 757 124 0.0066%
1959 798 117 0.0062%
1960 726 150 0.0079%
1961 831 112 0.0059%
1962 782 133 0.0072%
1963 820 111 0.0062%
1964 772 130 0.0074%
1965 717 141 0.0086%
1966 708 141 0.009%
1967 749 125 0.0082%
1968 749 127 0.0085%
1969 837 102 0.0066%
1970 801 126 0.0079%
1971 768 141 0.0094%
1972 787 123 0.009%
1973 768 127 0.0098%
1974 731 149 0.0115%
1975 744 141 0.011%
1976 737 144 0.0112%
1977 773 144 0.0107%
1978 838 124 0.0092%
1979 805 143 0.0101%
1980 756 166 0.0114%
1981 784 156 0.0106%
1982 700 197 0.0132%
1983 846 126 0.0085%
1984 760 160 0.0108%
1985 769 163 0.0107%
1986 793 160 0.0106%
1987 742 191 0.0125%
1988 828 170 0.0109%
1989 748 213 0.0132%
1990 733 235 0.0142%
1991 793 212 0.013%
1992 715 253 0.0159%
1993 621 319 0.0205%
1994 745 230 0.015%
1995 689 258 0.0171%
1996 662 290 0.0194%
1997 551 387 0.0262%
1998 511 457 0.0305%
1999 508 472 0.0315%
2000 493 513 0.0336%
2001 420 644 0.0427%
2002 433 632 0.0422%
2003 370 787 0.0517%
2004 314 977 0.0641%
2005 335 926 0.0606%
2006 306 1,040 0.0664%
2007 313 1,040 0.0659%
2008 285 1,150 0.0744%
2009 216 1,472 0.0985%
2010 200 1,515 0.1051%
2011 182 1,714 0.1203%
2012 164 1,902 0.1335%
2013 144 2,122 0.149%
2014 116 2,731 0.1874%
2015 78 3,639 0.2501%
2016 66 3,983 0.2763%
2017 51 4,573 0.3277%
2018 44 4,785 0.3483%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Aurora

If you like Aurora, you’ll love these other names like Aurora.

What names are diminutives of Aurora?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Aurora sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Aurora, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Aura

Wind

Latin

#1,462 (0.0052%)  
Ora

Pray

Latin

#2,661 (0.0009%)  
Rora

Dawn

Latin

Rory

Dawn

Latin

#543 (0.0358%)  

What names are variants of Aurora?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Aurora.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Aurea

Wind; golden; dawn

Latin

#3,212 (0.0004%)  
Aurore

Dawn

Latin

What names sound like Aurora?

If you like how Aurora sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Aurora.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Aria

Vocal solo

English

#19 (0.5382%)  
Ariana

Most holy

Latin

#68 (0.27%)  
Aurelia

Golden

Latin

#618 (0.0297%)  
Oriana

Sunrise

Latin

#1,770 (0.0032%)  

What names are similar to Aurora?

Find a name that’s like Aurora, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Celeste

Heavenly

Latin

#431 (0.0491%)  
Dawn

The first appearance of light, daybreak

English

#1,752 (0.0033%)  
Genesis

The beginning

Greek

#57 (0.2948%)  
Luna

The moon

Latin

#23 (0.502%)  
Paloma

Dove

Latin

#870 (0.017%)  
Penelope

Weaver

Greek

#26 (0.4712%)  
Persephone
#974 (0.0135%)  
Serenity

Calmness

English

#76 (0.2555%)  
Skye

English

#402 (0.0513%)  
Stella

Celestial star

Latin

#38 (0.3727%)  

Lists With Aurora

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Aurora.

Siblings of Aurora

Mamas with kids named Aurora also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Elijah

My God is Yahweh

Hebrew

#7 (0.9379%)  
Adler

Eagle

German

#988 (0.0102%)  
Abram

High father

Hebrew

#430 (0.048%)  
Colton

Charcoal settlement

English

#68 (0.3838%)  
Jayden

Thankful one

Hebrew

#30 (0.6225%)  
Gunner

Warrior

Scandinavian

#278 (0.089%)  

9 Comments

  1. My husband chose the name for our daughter. He named her Aurora after the Northern Lights. I was hesitant about the name because the first thing I think of is the Disney princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. Most of the time I call her by her nickname Rory.

    Reply

  2. Aurora is a disney princess and since she is our only little girl with 2 older brothers she will always be out little princess. We decided to name her Aurora Faye after my husband grandma passed the month before we found out we were pregnant.

    Reply

  3. Her dad named her after the northern lights.

    Reply

  4. My mother suggested the name because of a show on STARS that had a strong female character on it. We also liked the meaning of the name, Aurora Borealis and felt that she would be a light in our life. Her nick name will be Rori and we love that nickname. We like the versatility of the name and it’s association with sleeping beauty.

    Reply

  5. I love the northern lights so my daughter is namedAurora. .

    Reply

  6. We picked the name Aurora for our 4th daughter because it’s a beautiful name and who does want to be named after the Aurora Borealis. We call her Rori for short. I have no dislikes about her name.

    Reply

  7. Aurora is the name of shirley mclain in terms of endearment which is my favorite chick flix

    Reply

  8. I love the name Aurora, like the Disney movie- “Sleeping Beauty”. It is not as common as some names and still so beautiful.
    Both of my kids have Disney inspired names.

    Reply

  9. Too many reasons. Because my husband works for the government, we thought we were moving to Alaska but ended up in Italy instead (where our daughter was born). Both places are popular for the name (Aurora Borealis & the Roman goddess Aurora). Plus I’m a Disney movie fan (Sleeping Beauty’s name is Aurora) and who doesn’t hope for a well rested child?!

    We almost didn’t name her Aurora, because it is a little more difficult to say (so we practiced it quite a bit!)

    We also didn’t know no one else with the name, and I enjoyed the idea of calling my daughter Rori as a nickname. Rory means “the red ruler” because of a famous Scottish king, and I have auburn hair myself. (But my daughter does not!?)

    Reply

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