Norma (given name)

Norma is a female name. 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] More recently Norma has been used as a female equivalent of the name Norman, meaning "Norseman".^[3]

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.^[4]

Notable people named Norma

• Norma Aleandro, an Argentine actress
• Norma Cole, a visual artist, translator and American poet
• Norma Egstrom, the birth name of Peggy Lee, an actress, singer and songwriter
• Norma Fox Mazer, an American author
• Norma Khouri, a Jordanian author
• Norma Klein (1938–1989), an American author
• Norma MacMillan (1921–2001), a Canadian voice actress
• Norma Major, (born 1942), wife of British Prime Minister John Major
• Norma McCorvey (born 1947), the "Jane Roe" in the "Roe v. Wade" abortion case
• Norma Jeane Mortenson (1926–1962, baptized Norma Jean Baker), the birth name of Marilyn Monroe, an American actress and model
• Norma Nolan, a 1962 Miss Universe
• Norma Shearer, an actress
• Norma Merrick Sklarek (1926–2012), African-American architect
• Norma Smallwood, a Miss America for 1926
• Norma Stitz, a website entrepreneur and nude model
• Norma Talmadge, a film star of the silent era
• Norma Teagarden, a jazz pianist
• Norma Winstone, a British jazz singer and musician

Fictional characters

• Norma, a minor character from Square's console role-playing game Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
• Grammy Norma is a character in the 2012 animated movie The Lorax. The voice over was done by Betty White.^[5]
• Norma Arnold, mother of Kevin Arnold in the 1988-1993 television series The Wonder Years
• Norma Bates, a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch
• Norma Bates, Passions character
• Norma Cenva, a character from the three prequels to Frank Herbert's Dune novels
• Norma Desmond, in the film Sunset Boulevard
• Norma Romano, a recurring character in the TV series Orange Is the New Black
• Norma, a character in the novel Carrie by Stephen King and film Carrie(1976)
• Norma Rae Webster, heroine of the film Norma Rae (1979)

External links

• Website Behind the Name information about Norma
• Secondary Source for Norma

References