Aurora Name Meaning

Aurora is a mystical and romantic name that means "dawn" in Latin. An aurora also refers to a natural light display in the Earth's sky. Visible only in high-latitude regions like the North and South Poles, the aurora polaris (the polar lights), the aurora borealis (the northern lights), and the aurora australis (the southern lights) paint the sky in an dazzling array of colors.

Aurora was the Roman goddess of the dawn. Helios, the sun god, and Selene, the moon goddess, were her brother and sister. Aurora rode across the sky each morning before her brother, Helios rode across with the sun. As she rode, she sprinkled dew over the land.

Aurora had several children. Some of them were the winds Boreas, Eurus, Notus, and Zephyrus. She also gave birth to the morning star Eosphorus and the evening star Hesperus.

Walt Disney named the protagonist of its 1959 film "Sleeping Beauty" Aurora. In the tale that Disney adapted, however, the princess gave birth to set of twins, naming the girl twin Aurora.

How Popular Is the Name Aurora?

Aurora has been steadily increasing in popularity over the years since it hit the charts in 2000. Aurora broke into the top 100 in 2015 and into the top 50 in 2018. According to the most recent data from the Social Security Administration, it peaked in 2019 at position 40.

Aurora will likely see a rise in popularity when the 2020 data comes out and going into 2021. Celestial names and cottagecore names, whose aesthetic is based on nostalgia and love for the natural world, have grown in popularity during these more turbulent years.

Name Variations

Being of Latin origin, Aurora is used in several romance languages as well as in other European countries. The name Aurora is used in English, Finnish, German, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

In some languages, the spelling and pronunciation varies including:

• Aurore (French)
• Avrora (Russian, Ukranian)

Similar Names

These names have a similar sound to Aurora, but different meanings. Some also have different origins.

• Aroa
• Aura
• Aurea
• Aurelia
• Aureliana
• Aurica
• Aurelija
• Aurélie

Common Nicknames

Common nicknames for Aurora include:

• Arie: A fun, modern option
• Aura: A feminine-sounding nickname, related to the name's meaning
• Dawn: Based on the name's meaning
• Orie: An original take on shortening the name Aurora
• Ro: A short, sporty sounding nickname
• Rory: A popular nickname for Aurora with a gender-neutral vibe

Suggested Sibling Names

• Augustus
• Camilla
• Chiara
• Caspian
• Charles
• Luna
• Maia
• Paul
• Philip
• Roxanne
• Selena
• Stella
• Ulysses
• Victoria

Famous People Named Aurora

Well-known Auroras include royalty, Olympic athletes, and trailblazing women. Here are a few famous people named Aurora:

• Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944, wife of Philippine President Manuel Luis Quezon, the first Chairperson of the Philippine National Red Cross
• Aurora, the fictional main character in Disney's 1959 "Sleeping Beauty"
• Aurora "Rory" Block, country blues guitarist and singer
• Aurora Karamzina, philanthropist and princess
• Aurora Kiljenroth, Swedish scholar and one of the first women to graduate from the gymnasium, a type of school with a strong emphasis on academic learning
• Aurora Pavlovna Demidova, Russian noblewoman and member of the house of Demidov, a prominent Russian noble family during the 18th and 19th centuries
• Aurora Bretón, Olympic archer
• Aurora Cáceres, writer associated with the literary movement known as modernismo
• Aurora Clavel, film and television actress
• Aurora Reyes-Flores, the first female muralist in Mexico