NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Aurora

Feminine name of Latin origin meaning "dawn" or "the Roman goddess of the morning".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Aurora is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Aurora popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #43, with 1,002 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2024, with 1,002 births.

This profile covers 9,034 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

Aurora is at its recorded peak in the England and Wales series.

We estimate that about 9,714 living people in the UK are called Aurora. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Aurora ranked #43 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 1,002 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2024, when 1,002 girls were registered as Aurora.
  • Aurora ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #55 in 2024.
  • About 9,714 living people in the UK are estimated to have Aurora as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#43

2024

Births in 2024

1,002

Latest year

Peak year

2024

1,002 births

Estimated living

9,714

2026

Meaning

What does Aurora mean?

The name Aurora is derived from the Latin word "aurora," which means "dawn" or "sunrise." This name has its roots in Roman mythology, where Aurora was the goddess of dawn, often depicted as a beautiful woman who opened the gates of the morning and scattered the morning dew.

In ancient Roman literature, Aurora was mentioned in various works, including Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphoses. The name was also used in ancient Roman times, though it was not as common as some other names.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aurora is from the 4th century AD, when it was borne by a Christian martyr named Aurora of Hispania. Later, in the 6th century, there was a Saint Aurora who was a nun and abbess in France.

During the Renaissance period, the name Aurora gained popularity, particularly in Italy, where it was associated with the revival of classical culture and the rediscovery of ancient Roman myths and legends. One notable figure from this time was Aurora Rambouillet (1539-1608), an Italian-born French noblewoman who hosted a famous literary salon in Paris.

In the 17th century, the name Aurora was also used in England, as seen with the English writer Aurora Leigh (1819-1851), whose real name was Elizabeth Barrett Browning. She was a renowned poet and one of the most prominent writers of her time.

Another notable bearer of the name was Aurora Karamzin (1808-1902), a Russian writer and translator who played a significant role in introducing Russian literature to Western audiences.

In the 19th century, the name Aurora became more widespread in various parts of Europe and the Americas. One famous example is Aurora Lucero Hogan (1847-1922), known as the "Goddess of Liberty," who was a Mexican-American woman who posed for the Statue of Liberty in New York.

The name Aurora has also been associated with several notable figures in the arts and sciences, such as the Italian painter Aurora Prosperi (1490-1520), the Mexican painter Aurora Reyes (1908-1985), and the American astronomer Aurora Tsinan Ferendinos (1912-1989).

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Aurora over time

The chart below shows babies named Aurora registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Aurora, the clearest high point is 2024. The latest England and Wales figure is 1,002 births in 2024, compared with 1,002 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Aurora
02515017521K199620102024

Decades

Aurora by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Aurora was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #52 4,629 5
2010s #222 3,942 10
2000s #804 391 10
1990s #1109 72 4

Geography

Where Aurora is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Aurora. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Aurora ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #55 in 2024.

Scotland
74
Northern Ireland
22

Across the UK

Aurora in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#55 in 2024

20 years of NRS records, 578 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#93 in 2024

13 years of NISRA records, 144 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Aurora

  • Aurora Carlson

    television presenter

    Chinese television presenter

    1987-

  • Aurora McDonnell, Viscountess Dunluce

    aristocrat

    (born 1971); wife of Randal McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce

    1971-

  • Aurora Nishevci

    singer; musician

    British musician

  • Aurora Burghart

    actor

    British actress

Related

Names similar to Aurora

FAQ

Aurora: questions and answers

How popular is the name Aurora in the UK right now?

In 2024, Aurora was ranked #43 for girls in England and Wales, with 1,002 births registered.

When was Aurora most popular?

The peak year on record was 2024, with 1,002 babies registered as Aurora in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Aurora?

Feminine name of Latin origin meaning "dawn" or "the Roman goddess of the morning".

How many people are called Aurora in the UK?

A total of 9,034 babies have been registered as Aurora across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 578 more in Scotland and 144 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Aurora most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Aurora ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #55 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.