Re: Surnames Code and Nora
by Jim Young (guest)
4/10/2007, 8:01 AM
There is an Italian surname Nora. One suggested meaning is a diminutive of Eleanora, another, that it comes from NUORA, meaning "daughter-in-law". In either case inherited from a female ancestor. A third suggestion is a place name origin. Apparently there was a Casa Nora in Ravenna, but that looks to me like it's called after the family. There is also a Nora in Southern Sardinia, but there doesn't seem to be a connection between the surname and the island. So no firm explanation.
There is an English surname, Code, and this has more than one possible explanation. It could be a metonymic for a cobbler, code being an old word for cobbler's wax. It might also be locative, from the Cornish CUIT, meaning wood. The name belongs to Devon, which adjoins Cornwall.