Thora

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

How Thora is read●(measured from records)

Thora is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English73%

  A female given name from Old Norse occasionally borrowed from Scandinavia.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  Old Norse, "the god of thunder".

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• German5.6%

  Torah

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Often considered alongside

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Thora, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Runa
• Freja
• Ingrid
• Sigrid
• Freya
• Solveig
• Dora
• Birch
• Zelda
• Signe
• Astrid
• Freyja

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Thora is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Hindi given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Thóra

• Spanish given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Thóra

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Thóra

• a separate given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Norway, United Kingdom

  Also written Thóra, Thorä

47 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Thora is also recorded in one other lexicon, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Trueno

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Thora Hallagerb. 1821DKDanish photographer (1821–1884)
• Thora Hanssonb. 1848NONorwegian actor and director (1848–1917)
• Thora Daugaardb. 1874DKDanish women's rights activist, pacifist, editor and translator
• Thora Meinckeb. 1877DKDanish actor (1877-1911)
• Thora Hardyb. 1902CHSwiss chemist (1902-1993)
• Thora Hirdb. 1911GBBritish actress (1911–2003)
• Janette Scottb. 1938GBnot in their usual nameFilm actress
• Marion Lundb. 1968NOnot in their usual nameNorwegian poet and lyricist (1968–2022)
• Thora Birchb. 1982USAmerican actress
• Thora Bjorg Helgab. 1989ISIcelandic actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

How to address them○(machine-generated)

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Thora mean, and where does it come from?

A female given name from Old Norse occasionally borrowed from Scandinavia. Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).

What are other forms of the name Thora?

In the etymology graph, Tove, Tova and Tora are forms of the same name in other languages; it is recorded as a short form of Turid and Torhild.

How do you pronounce Thora?

A machine transcription gives /ˈθɔɹə/ (IPA) for English.

Is Thora a male or female name?

Thora is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

In which country does Thora have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 930 people named Thora, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled thora.

Where is Thora most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Thora is densest in Denmark — about 1 in 12 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Thora?

In the United States, the national register counted 930 people named Thora in 2020, about 1 in 358 thousand residents.

How common is Thora compared with other names?

In Iceland, Thora is the 594th most common given name of 3,704 given names recorded there.