Norma (given name) explained

Norma
Gender:Female
Meaning:"precepts", "Norsewoman", "Norn"
Related Names:Nora

Norma is a female name. It is of Germanic and Romance origin.

A single instance of the name Norma is recorded 1203, where it perhaps derives from the Latin word norma, meaning "precept". The name's general usage seems to be subsequent to the 1831 debut of Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma whose librettist Felice Romani borrowed the name (and the plot) from the recent tragedy Norma by Alexandre Soumet. Soumet's choice of name for his title character may possibly have been influenced by the name of the Germanic mythological Norns.[1] [2]

The name has fluctuated in popularity over the past 100 years. It is still a very common name in the United States, but the name was most often given to babies in the 1930s, and is now seldom given.[3] More recently Norma has been used as a female equivalent of the name Norman, meaning "Norseman".[4]

Notable people named Norma

Fictional characters

References

  1. Book: Withycombe . E. G. . 1985 . 1945 . English Christian Names . Oxford . Oxford University Press . 230 . 0192812130 .
  2. Book: Tuan . Laura . 2010 . Che nome dare al tuo bambino . Italian . Firenze . Giunti . 172 . 9788841240267 . 9 January 2017 .
  3. Web site: Norma. Think Baby Names. 2009-02-21 .
  4. Book: Macleod . Iseabail . Freedman . Terry . 1995 . The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names . Ware . Wordsworth Reference . 173 . 1853263664 . 9 January 2017 .

External links