Name Detective: Ororo

Lauren K. writes:

"If you could find anything about the name "Ororo" would be amazing! I'm really interested in finding out anything about Ororo, mostly because I'm hoping it's a real name and not something just made up for the fictional character! I'm just having the worst time searching for her name!"

photo courtesy of  zuzkins

Ororo Iqudi T'Challa, née Munroe is the name of X-Men character Storm's alter ego. She's best known for a superhero trait many of us wish we were blessed with -- the ability to control the weather.

I did some searching too, and no, there's nothing conclusive. My personal suspicions are that Ororo is a variation of the Greek name Aurora or French Aurore (meaning "dawn").

The character Ororo has some Kenyan heritage, and while Kenyan names in particular don't have a plethora of names that start with an "O," many other African names do -- most notably, Nigeria. One name specifically stands out in this case, Omorose (o mo RO seh, meaning "beautiful"), might be related. It's an Egyptian name often used in Nigeria. This could be a very likely link, since many X-Men fan sites list Ororo as meaning "beauty."

My guess is that Ororo is a mash-up of Aurora and Omorose, or a science-fictionified variant of Aurora or Omorose. While doing some research, one website says that Ororo is a Persian name meaning "great mother." I'm not sure how reliable this information is, since the Farsi (Persian) word for mother is "madar."

I guess we'll never actually know unless we ask the creators of Ms. Ororo Munroe, and one of them has already passed away.

Anyone else have thoughts in Ororo?