Jorah is a Hebrew name meaning autumn rain or first rain.
Jorah is a Hebrew name traced to the root yore, meaning 'early rain'—specifically the first rains of the season in the ancient Levant, which were crucial for agriculture and were understood as signs of divine blessing and renewal. The name appears in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in the Book of Ezra, where it is listed among those who returned from the Babylonian exile to rebuild Jerusalem, giving the name a context of homecoming, resilience, and restoration. In its original world, Jorah named men associated with the life-giving gift of water and the hope that comes with a new season.
R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series and its HBO adaptation Game of Thrones, where Ser Jorah Mormont—a disgraced knight seeking redemption—brought the name to global awareness. The character's arc of loyalty, exile, and longing gave Jorah new emotional associations: honor, devotion, and complex moral reckoning.
Martin likely chose the name for its ancient, slightly unfamiliar sound that fits the quasi-medieval world of Westeros. Today, Jorah sits at an interesting intersection—biblical in origin, literary in recent association, and appealingly gender-flexible for parents drawn to short, strong names that feel both ancient and accessible.