Dora is poised for a comeback, right behind Laura, Nora, Cora, and Flora. First-time parents who haven't watched cartoons in a couple of decades should be aware of the Dora the Explorer connection, which has its pluses and minuses.
Dora became popular during the Victorian era largely via Dora Spenlow, the "child-wife of Dickens's David Copperfield. Two noted real-life bearers were Dora Maar (born Henriette), a Picasso model and muse, and Dora Carrington, a British painter who was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. The name suffered a bit of a setback from being the title of the long-running comic strip, Dumb Dora..
While Dora can stand on its own, it can also be short for Dorothea, Dorothy, or Theodora. Dory is a cute diminutive.
