girl's name
Flora
FLOR-uh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 99,799
the United States
#607
2025 births
Flora is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "flower," the Roman goddess whose festival was among the least decorous in the calendar. It ranks 103rd in Scotland and 241st in England and Wales.
- Flora is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1920, when 1,573 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 6,864 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Flora over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 4,200 |
| 1890s | 5,442 |
| 1900s | 6,038 |
| 1910s | 11,779 |
| 1920s | 14,025 |
| 1930s | 8,772 |
| 1940s | 6,191 |
| 1950s | 4,411 |
| 1960s | 2,282 |
| 1970s | 1,140 |
| 1980s | 830 |
| 1990s | 717 |
| 2000s | 1,008 |
| 2010s | 1,801 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,507 |
What Flora means
Flora means flower, from the Latin flos, genitive floris. The Roman goddess and the ordinary noun are the same word, so the name is the flower itself rather than a description of one.
Where Flora comes from
Flora comes from the Latin flos, a flower, and names the Roman goddess of flowering plants and spring. Her festival, the Floralia, ran from late April into May and had a reputation: it involved theatrical performances by prostitutes, the release of hares and goats, and a general license that later Christian writers used as evidence of what they were replacing. In Scotland the name belongs above all to Flora MacDonald, who in 1746 conveyed Charles Edward Stuart from Benbecula to Skye disguised as her maid Betty Burke after Culloden; she was imprisoned in the Tower for it, released, and later emigrated to North Carolina. That single act is why Flora is a Scottish name at all, and it is also used there as an anglicization of the unrelated Gaelic Fionnghuala.
Flora in use
Flora ranks 103rd in Scotland with 42 births in 2024, 241st in England and Wales and 247th in France with 225 births, so it has real standing in three markets. Our records mark it reviving from a peak in 1920 and carry it from 1880. It holds 607th in the United States. The Scottish and French uses are largely independent of each other, one following Flora MacDonald and the other the Latin directly.
How popular is Flora?
In 2025, Flora was given to 483 babies in the United States, ranking #607 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Flora is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Flora
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Flora also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Flora over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Flora in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Flora
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Flora — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Flora
What does the name Flora mean?
Flora means "flower," from the Latin flos. The goddess and the noun are the same word.
Who was Flora MacDonald?
The woman who took Charles Edward Stuart from Benbecula to Skye disguised as her maid after Culloden, and was imprisoned for it.
Is Flora a Scottish name?
It is Latin in origin, but Flora MacDonald made it Scottish. It also anglicizes the unrelated Gaelic Fionnghuala.
How popular is Flora?
103rd in Scotland and 241st in England and Wales.
Is Flora a girl's or a boy's name?
Flora is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Flora?
Flora has 2 syllables.
Is Flora a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Flora currently ranks #103 in the United States. After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.