Sonora

Meaning of Sonora

Sonora drifts into English from the sun-drenched borderlands of northern Mexico, where the rugged state that bears the name was itself christened either for the indigenous Ópata word for “place of corn” or, as later Spanish settlers liked to believe, for the river they thought sounded “sonorous.” Whichever etymology one prefers, the result is a melodic tri-syllable—soh-NOHR-uh—that feels as bright and expansive as a desert sky at noon. In the United States, Sonora has hovered in the lower reaches of the Social Security rankings since the 1940s, never common enough to lose its frontier mystique, yet dependable enough to appear every year or two like a coyote silhouette on the horizon. Literary minds may also hear faint echoes of “sonorous,” lending the name an almost musical undertone that appeals to artists and nature lovers alike. All told, Sonora offers parents a quietly adventurous choice: familiar to the ear, rich with geographic romance, and just unusual enough to make a child feel she carries a little stretch of golden canyon light wherever she goes.