Medora

#12,729 in 2025Girls' name

Literal meaning not recorded

Medora has been given to 759 babies in the U.S. since 1885. In 2025 it ranked #12,729 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1920, with 25 recorded.

Babies named Medora, 2025

1 in 474,000

Medora over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Medora: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Medora means

Medora is a given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

The given name was first used by Lord Byron in The Corsair (1814).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Medora (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Medora is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 759 girls were recorded with the name Medora between 1885 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 25 in 1920; its best national rank was #725 in 1885.

How common is Medora?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 474,000; 7 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 230,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #12,729; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 328,272 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Medora sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Medora. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Medoras were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Medora was born before 1927 — so the typical Medora is around 98 today.

Median birth year: 1927; About 98 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 18.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 7.1%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 220; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 18.2% of all recorded uses (138).

Is Medora rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 28.0%; Peak was 1920 (25)
Years since peak: 105; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Steady; 11.4% average annual change
Best rank ever: #725; 1885

Spellings of Medora

Medora is not the most common spelling — Dora is, with 42.9% against Medora's 0.31%.

Dora42.9%105,930
Lenora15.0%37,058
Debora12.2%30,133
Leora4.9%12,119
Elora3.6%8,811
Nedra2.9%7,104
Dedra1.8%4,418
Meera1.7%4,259

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Medora by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #12,729
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: New entry
Best rank ever: #725; 1885
Peak year: 1920; 25 that year
First recorded: 1885
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 759
Count in 2025: 7

Names similar to Medora

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Medha Medina Annora Dinora Kemora Kymora Samora Ellora Camora Senora Allora Velora Valora Eleora Sonora Zamora Sanora Melora Jinora Eliora Honora Adaora Isidora Noora

Sibling names for Medora

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Vina Idella Adell Alene Beryl Kattie Iola Garnet

For a brother

Granville Dewitt Vern Barney Delmer Buford Eldridge Trinidad

Explore around Medora

Top names of 1920, Medora's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1885 Girls' names starting with M