Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Unflip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Unflip

1 2

Original poster

Aurora - sudden spike in popularity?

29 replies

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 29/10/2017 08:25

Idly considering girls' names for DC2 and popped Aurora into the name.darkgreener site. I was surprised to see that it has had an ENORMOUS surge in popularity in the last few years and am trying to work out why. It's almost in the top 100.

Obviously there is the Disney princess connection but that has been around since 1959. Has a celebrity used it for their baby? Are there loads of Auroras in pop culture that have completely passed me by?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Rapunzel91 · 02/11/2017 21:39

I think it's beautiful and I'm going to use it should I be so lucky to have a DD in the future. No idea why it's had a surge in popularity though?

Aurora (sleeping beauty) was my favourite Disney princess so I've loved the name since then. I also think of the northern lights (aurora borealis) and as I'm Norwegian I think it would be a nice link.

Siarie · 01/11/2017 13:19

Aurora was our other girl name (we are expecting a boy) but the main female lead in passengers is named Aurora so maybe it’s just being used more now

Original poster

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 01/11/2017 13:14

I don't think there always has to be a specific tangible explanation for rising and falling trends. Some names just share characteristics or styles with what is generally popular at a given time, and as more people use a name, it grows in popularity even more.

Agreed, but when the spike is as dramatic as Aurora there is often a pop culture reason. Take Luna, for example - that must be the Harry Potter effect?

It does look like it's currently the female Arlo, which renders it pretty much unusable for me

OP posts:

DiegoMadonna · 01/11/2017 12:26

I watched a film last night Passengers, I'm sure the woman character was called Aurora

You watched it last night but you're not actually certain of what one of the only two human characters was called? You can't have been paying much attention!!

(Yes, it is Aurora, and no, I can't blame you for not paying the film much attention)

DiegoMadonna · 01/11/2017 12:23

It's a name bubble, basically.

And lol at the idea of English people not being able to pronounce Aurora because of the Rs

pipilangstrumpf · 01/11/2017 11:52

I like Aurora.

NerNerNerNerBATMAN · 01/11/2017 07:12

I love the name aurora but it is definitely having a bit of a moment around here. There are two at DDs nursery and both are more Disney princess than hippy if that makes sense.

lou1221 · 29/10/2017 18:07

I watched a film last night Passengers, I'm sure the woman character was called Aurora. It was made last year.

17caterpillars1mouse · 29/10/2017 18:02

I know 4! I don't get it personally

Original poster

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 29/10/2017 15:14

Maleficent, of course! Thank you!

OP posts:

starzig · 29/10/2017 13:15

Malifecent movie.

ContessaBonessa · 29/10/2017 12:53

Bloody Gilmore Girls.

ContessaBonessa · 29/10/2017 12:52

I hate, hate, hate Rory being used a 'cute' nickname for girls.

TheEmpressWears · 29/10/2017 12:11

Just noticed you are the OP zoya
Unobservant of me.
I think you will be safe enough if you use this. I don't think the name will ever be in the top 30. A lot of people like it but it doesn't have the easy appeal of say Ruby or Chloe or Emily. It will never be that popular.

TheEmpressWears · 29/10/2017 12:09

Yes, I know that Zoya !
You like the name and are in its favour so to speak! And I'm coming from the other side of the fence so I'm not as kind to it. I just think it will sound both blah and weird at the same time, which is actually an achievement come to think of it!

What's your first dd called? Is Aurora in the same style?

Whohasnickedmyvodka · 29/10/2017 12:03

My dd1 who is 12 next month is an aurora i named her after the northern lights

May50 · 29/10/2017 12:00

I can't say my r's very well ( a bit like Jonathan Ross!) so the name Aurora comes out like Owowa. Can't say the name Warren either. I deliberately chose kids names without an r for me and incase my kids struggled with the r too.

Original poster

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 29/10/2017 11:53

If you're in England, do you pronounce your Rs fully, would the name sound like au-wa.

That's not how non-rhotic accents work.

Non-rhotic speakers drop an 'r' if it is immediately after a vowel and not followed by another vowel. Both of the 'r's in Aurora are followed by a vowel so a non-rhotic speaker pronounces them. So, for example, a rhotic speaker would pronounce both 'r's in 'river', but a non-rhotic speaker would only pronounce the first.

OP posts:

IVflytrap · 29/10/2017 11:26

It follows the current trend of girls' names that start with a vowel and end in the letter A. Also the name Rory has gained huge popularity recently and a mum I know who used Aurora wanted to give her daughter an official, feminine-sounding name on their birth certificate, while using the cuter nickname Rory in everyday life.

If you're in England, do you pronounce your Rs fully, would the name sound like au-wa.

We're not all Jonathan Ross over here.

SyrilSneer · 29/10/2017 11:22

Empress of course English people can pronounce “R” - we have non-rhotic accents not speech impediments!

meltingmarshmallows · 29/10/2017 11:09

It's also got a bit of cultural appropriation going on (Native American? not sure) and yet it sounds jaded and disney-inspired.

Erm what? Not even remotely it’s Latin. Aurora borealis ... I think of nature not Disney.

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 29/10/2017 11:05

Just spent a happy few minutes on that site, thanks .
Aurora is one of those names I see a lot on MN along with variations. I hate it but mainly because I knew a particularly irritating woman of the same name.

HaHaHmm · 29/10/2017 10:49

It's also got a bit of cultural appropriation going on (Native American? not sure) and yet it sounds jaded and disney-inspired.

Where on earth have you got this from? It is Latin, from the Roman goddess of the dawn.

I probably won't use it but FWIW I've been very fond of it for a very long time, ever since reading the epic poem Aurora Leigh.

One of the meanings of 'Alba' is 'white' is so I'd prefer to avoid this. It's also the Gaelic name for Scotland and with zero Scottish heritage it probably isn't appropriate for us.

Sophronia · 29/10/2017 10:18

I once heard someone say it sounds like a dog barking

I agree that it’s having a moment along with Aria, Aurelia etc.

crazypenguinlady · 29/10/2017 10:06

I know someone who had a baby girl called Aurora (nn Rory) last month. She's a little cutie.

Unflip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread