girl's name
Norma
NOR-muh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 281,057
Scotland
#450
1985 births
Norma is a girl's name that appears to have been invented for an opera — Bellini's Norma of 1831 — and it was the birth name of Marilyn Monroe, who appears elsewhere in these pages under the name that replaced it.
- Norma is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1931, when 8,796 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 34,899 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Norma 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 | 590 |
| 1890s | 1,885 |
| 1900s | 3,341 |
| 1910s | 15,543 |
| 1920s | 65,461 |
| 1930s | 73,221 |
| 1940s | 43,206 |
| 1950s | 30,927 |
| 1960s | 21,636 |
| 1970s | 10,380 |
| 1980s | 5,667 |
| 1990s | 4,134 |
| 2000s | 1,992 |
| 2010s | 852 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 514 |
What Norma means
Norma is generally given as rule or standard, from the Latin norma, a carpenter's square. The name may simply have been coined for its sound, in which case the meaning is inferred rather than intended.
Where Norma comes from
Norma has no history before Bellini's opera Norma, first performed at La Scala in 1831, in which the title character is a Druid priestess. The usual derivation takes the Latin norma, a carpenter's square and by extension a rule or standard — the source of normal and enormous, which literally means out of the square. Whether Felice Romani, who wrote the libretto, intended that or simply wanted a Roman-sounding name for a Gaulish setting is not recorded. A separate proposal reads it as a feminine of Norman, meaning a Northman, which would be a different word entirely.
Norma in use
Norma peaked in the United States in 1931, when 8,796 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 2005th in the United States on 95 births, 6072nd in France and 6836th in England and Wales, across 281,057 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. Norma Jeane Mortenson, born in 1926 near the start of that peak, was renamed Marilyn in 1946 — so both her names appear in this run of pages.
How popular is Norma?
In 2025, Norma was given to 95 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Norma 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 Norma
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Norma also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Norma over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Norma 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.
- Irish
- Noreen
Sibling names for Norma
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Norma — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Norma
What does the name Norma mean?
Usually rule or standard, from the Latin norma, a carpenter's square — though it may have been coined purely for its sound.
Where does the name Norma come from?
It has no history before Bellini's 1831 opera Norma, in which the title character is a Druid priestess.
Was Marilyn Monroe called Norma?
She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926 and renamed in 1946.
How popular is Norma?
2005th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Norma a girl's or a boy's name?
Norma is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Norma?
Norma has 2 syllables.
Is Norma a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Norma currently ranks #2,005 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.