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.

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 0.2762%
2017 51 4,573 0.3276%
2018 44 4,785 0.3483%
2019 40 4,952 0.3658%
2020 35 5,085 0.3995%
2021 34 5,129 0.4196%
2022 31 5,956 0.4515%

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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

Ora

Pray

Latin

Rora

Dawn

Latin

Rory

Red king

Irish


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

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

Ariana

Most holy

Latin

Aurelia

Golden

Latin

Oriana

Sunrise

Latin


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

Dawn

The first appearance of light, daybreak

English

Genesis

The beginning

Greek

Luna

The moon

Latin

Paloma

Dove

Latin

Penelope

Weaver

Greek

Persephone

Bringer of destruction

Greek

Serenity

Calmness

English

Skye

Isle of Skye

English

Stella

Celestial star

Latin


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

Adler

Eagle

German

Abram

High father

Hebrew

Colton

Charcoal settlement

English

Jayden

Thankful one

Hebrew

Gunner

Warrior

Scandinavian

Bergen

Mountain

German

Julianna

Youthful and downy

Latin

Brian

High and noble

English

37 Comments

  1. Our first born is Luna and Aurora is such a sweet compliment to it. We love that both names are celestial and represent forms of light — Aurora means dawn in Spanish (which she will learn to speak from her dad) and also pays homage to Aurora Borealis! We also think the nickname Rory is perfect.

  2. I love the meaning (beacon of light) and the sound of the name. Also love the princess, Aurora!! ?

  3. My fiance picked her name. He said that the most beautiful thing he had ever seen was the Aurora Borealis before he saw his daughter.

  4. Means a new dawn, a new day, coming into the light?

  5. She’s named after the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

  6. We came up with her name by deciding something not really common but you do know where it came from. Plus it went great with the middle names her father chose.

  7. El significado, numerolog?a me llamaron la atenci?n, pero sobretodo porque me recuerda la casa donde crec?, pues el nombre de la calle donde quedaba es Aurora?

  8. My husband purposed to me under Aurora borialas so we decided that our baby girl should be named Aurora.

  9. I chose this name because it was my grandmother’s and I also think it’s so beautiful!

  10. We love her name & we both chose her name Aurora because it stands for a princess name. She is fit sure a princess!???

  11. I’ve loved the name since I was little.

  12. We picked the name because she is born and getting raised in Alaska.

  13. Love the uniqueness & beauty of the name Aurora. My husband & I came into our relationship both w. the name in mind for our first daughter – His reason for the Borealis Lights also known as the “Auroras” & mine because I am a Disney fanatic & love the movie sleeping beauty.

  14. Aurora is our rainbow baby but also our first living child too. She’s the dawn of a new era for my husband and I as we’ve been together since highschool and are now in our mid-twenties. Aurora is the Latin for “dawn” and we liked that better than the name Dawn with our last name. Plus I saw the Aurora Borealis on a flight once when I was a kid and it’s a memory I’ll never forget. It’s a beautiful natural phenomenon and one worthy to be named after. The name came to me when I was 3 weeks pregnant, before we even knew she was a girl even though I had a gut feeling. It was perfect. As I type, Aurora is 2 months old and has beautiful red hair, just like the dawn of a sunny day. How fitting!

  15. Prior to finding out I was pregnant we had a trip to Iceland put on hold due to COVID. We decided to make that adventure happen when I was 25 weeks pregnant and got to see the most amazing and unexpected display of the northern lights (Aurora Borealis) while there. It seemed fitting to name her after something so naturally beautiful that we experienced together. We call her “Rory” for short.

    • hi i am 10 and a aunt and am looking to help search for a girls name ad i thought that it could be aurora if it was a girl and if it was a boy it could be jace so yeah that what i thought oh and nice to meet you

  16. Aurora means “dawn” and “luminous”, and shares a title with the beautiful Aurora Borealis lights. Also, everyone commented on how pretty she was right away and mentioned the Disney princess “Sleeping Beauty” . The name sounds so pretty in Spanish as well. It was our first choice and it kinda just fell into place for her.

  17. I love the meaning of the name Aurora and when I came across it the name stuck with me. When I saw my baby I knew that was her name.

  18. When we found out we were expecting our fourth child, we already had three girls whose names all end in -a so we wanted to keep that going if we had another girl. That narrowed the search down for us and I loved that Aurora means essentially the same thing as my mom’s middle name. I was nervous about choosing a “Disney princess name” but we loved the sound and meaning of it so we didn’t let that deter us.

  19. I liked the name since i was a little girl but never thought my future husband would go for it. Of course I originally heard the name on Sleeping Beauty. But the name has more to it than that. It is the Roman goddess of the dawn and dawn represents new beginnings. The northern lights are also beautiful and magical. Finally his deceased mother’s name was Dawna so we thought tis could be a small nod to her without just naming the baby after her.
    I don’t like that it is becoming a popular name negated i didn’t choose it because of a movie princess.

  20. My husband and I had loved the name Aurora for years – with the nickname Rory. I’ve always liked the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty and Gilmore Girls, so it fits really well. She was born just before dawn on her birthday, and Aurora can also mean “dawn,” so we knew it was perfect for our girl.

  21. I have always loved the name Aurora.

  22. I’ve always loved this name.
    I like the way it sounds, spelled and the meaning.

  23. We chose the name Aurora years before we had another girl. We’ve always loved the Aurora Borealis and and how the name means “dawn”. Funny enough, but I actually gave birth to her at 6:53am, right at dawn!

  24. He father named her

  25. We wanted a unique name with a Scandinavian feel as our ancestors are both Norwegian. We also loved the nickname “Rory.”

  26. My husband came up with the name and it was a name he always loved. We chose it because it was unique and beautiful. I like how the band is not a typical name you hear everyday. I dislike how most people mispronounce the name.

  27. It Is my birth city & my Mother’s favorite Disney Princess. Not to mention in my eyes my daughter is as beautiful and full of wonder as the Aurora borealis.

  28. 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.

  29. 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.

  30. Her dad named her after the northern lights.

  31. 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.

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

  33. 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.

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

  35. 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.

  36. 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!?)


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