Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

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

Original poster

Nora or Orla? Which do you like best?

64 replies

Carlos18 · 19/03/2022 06:22

Which do you like best?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
midsomermurderess · 19/03/2022 12:43

I prefer Nora. And who of your daughter's peers will know of Nora Batty? Heck, at my age, I barely do.

TatianaBis · 19/03/2022 12:24

Orla. Nora is just super frumpy and depressing.

Original poster
Carlos18 · 19/03/2022 11:34

Yes @Rathmobhaile it would be Orr-La where we are x

OP posts:
speckledeggshell · 19/03/2022 10:18

Nora maybe but neither are my cuppa. Nora makes me think of ignore her and snorer Orla make me think of oral and all of said in Cockney accent. look at orla dat sammun Dave (he works at the fish stall)

Rathmobhaile · 19/03/2022 08:27

Orla is nicer but I'm Irish so would say it "Orr-la". Is thst the way you would prefer it? Its an excellent point to look at how local accent influences what she would be called by her school friends and teachers etc.

As for Nora - its a no. Just dull I think. But I don't fibd this trend of putting names that are currently found on senior generations great. So for me thats names like Nora, Edith, Wilfred for example. Some names have their time and maybe thats a good thing. (I'm also thinking of all those 1970's Sharons and Traceys tbh)

GrendelsGrandma · 19/03/2022 08:23

Nora. I love it and kids these days don't watch much midsummer wine!

Orla always sounds to much like Paula to me

Curtilage · 19/03/2022 08:21

@nearlyspringyay

I've never heard an Awla pronunciation and I'm in SE London.

Prefer Nora, never did Nora Jones any harm!

See posts by two subsequent posters, @nearlyspringyay.
PineForestsAndSunshine · 19/03/2022 08:19

I don’t usually comment on the baby names threads, but had to say how much I like both names.

Sadly, I’m no help because I can’t choose between them!

cafedesreves · 19/03/2022 08:19

I would rhyme Orla with taller

Curtilage · 19/03/2022 08:14

@nearlyspringyay

I've never heard an Awla pronunciation and I'm in SE London.

Prefer Nora, never did Nora Jones any harm!

Well, maybe more Oh-la — the lack of rhoticity meaning the ‘r’ isn’t voiced.
cafedesreves · 19/03/2022 08:14

@nearlyspringyay

I've never heard an Awla pronunciation and I'm in SE London.

Prefer Nora, never did Nora Jones any harm!

I'm in SE London and I would pronounce it this way. The r wouldn't be pronounced. How would you pronounce it?
Guineapigssweak · 19/03/2022 08:10

Neither far nicer names to chose from.

nearlyspringyay · 19/03/2022 08:09

I've never heard an Awla pronunciation and I'm in SE London.

Prefer Nora, never did Nora Jones any harm!

Luredbyapomegranate · 19/03/2022 08:06

Orla

Nora is just depressing

But prefer Oona or Honor to either

canyoubelievethat · 19/03/2022 08:04

Both lovely names but I think I slightly prefer Orla.

ChuckBerrysBoots · 19/03/2022 07:52

Agree, I’d only use Orla in places where it will be pronounced in the way that sounds correct to my ears (Orrrla, not Awla). I really like Nora! I think it sounds cute for a little one but equally sensible for an adult.

HuntingoftheSnark · 19/03/2022 07:50

Nora for me.

Lurking9to5 · 19/03/2022 07:48

Orla, but I'm in Ireland. not sure that I like how it's said in the uk 'awla'

Although I love old fashioned names I don't love Nora. I was in a supermarket yesterday and it was announced over the tannoy ''Ada'' to till 4 and I look at till four to see whether a young woman or an old woman made her way to the the till! It was a very young woman. Love Ada.

I love Aine here but in the UK I'd use Anya instead. Different names but both simple and pretty.

YerWanIsGettinNotions · 19/03/2022 07:45

Hah @workflowers I ruled out Aine for the same reason - the accent! (I knew a girl at work in London who was known as Onyer! And it just made me think "on yer bike!")

workflowers · 19/03/2022 07:30

I like both and had them both on my list, but ruled out Orla because it was absolutely mangled by most English people I know because of their non-rhotic accent. (I live in an area with a non-rhotic accent so the pronunciation would have bugged me every day). So unless you live in Ireland or Scotland or the few parts of England with a rhotic accent, I’d probably go for Nora.

Curtilage · 19/03/2022 07:29

Nora if the child is going to grow up in a place where it’s likely to be pronounced Awla, which is as bad as the tendency to pronounce Deirdre as Deir-dree.

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 19/03/2022 07:26

I love Orla

Nora is ok but lots of potential for nasty nicknames... Nora Batty, Nosy Nora (which was common when I was a kid 'she's a right nosy Nora!') and it also sounds like 'gnawer' (eg hamsters, gerbils, rodents) Sad

PinkCheetah · 19/03/2022 07:24

Orla hands down. Nora just makes me think of noravirus...

Twizbe · 19/03/2022 07:24

See which fits baby best when they arrive :)

But of the two I love Eleanor shortened to Nora.

Mumofgirls2017 · 19/03/2022 07:23

Nora