Medora (given name)

Medora is a feminine given name popularized by George Gordon, Lord Byron for the heroine of his 1814 poem The Corsair. The name of the romantic heroine has since been used for girls in the Anglosphere. Variants of the name in use in the 19th century were Maddora, Madora, Medorah, Medoria, Medorra, and Midora. Medoro, a similar name, is a male character in the 1516 Italian epic poem Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, a poem which influenced later works. Medora is also a surname.

As first name

 * Medora Henson (1861–1928), American-English soprano-singer
 * Medora Louise Krieger (1904–1994), American geologist
 * Medora de Vallombrosa, Marquise de Morès, née von Hoffmann (1856–1921), wife of Antoine Amédée-Marie-Vincent Amot Manca de Vallombrosa, the Marquis de Morès, and namesake of Medora, North Dakota

As middle name

 * America Medora "Dora" McCulloch Allison Johnson (1862–1926), wife of 19th century American cattle rancher, cattle broker and gunfighter Clay Allison
 * Elizabeth Medora Leigh (1814–1849), suspected biological daughter of Lord Byron by his half-sister, Augusta Leigh; legal daughter of Augusta and her husband George Leigh
 * Caroline Medora Sale Roe (1943–2021), Canadian novelist
 * Susanna Madora Salter (1860–1961), American politician and activist

Pen name

 * Medora Gordon Byron, pseudonym of a 19th-century author of unknown identity; possibly Julia Maria Byron (1782–1858), a cousin of Lord Byron