My best friend is a beautiful girl with a beautiful name: Ceora.  Her
father named her after the Lee Morgan instrumental.  We are wondering
what the name "Ceora" means and what part of the world it comes from.  Thanks
in advance for your assistance.

Daughter of Zeus and Demeter; made Queen of the Underworld by Pluto in
ancient mythology; identified with Roman Proserpina

Persephone / Proserpina was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, as
mentioned e.g. here
http://www.loggia.com/myth/persephone.html

Mikomoro, why do you assume that Persephone / Proserpina was also called Ceora?

According to the "International Genealogical Index" several women with
the first name Ceora were living in "North America" during the 18th
and 19th century.

Go to
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp&clear_form=true

enter "Ceora" as First Name, choose "North America" as Region and
click on "Use exact spelling": 22 results (some are identical).

"British Isles": 0 results.

I looked into the Zeus/Demeter thing, and found as well many
references to Persephone and Proserpina.  The closest thing to Ceora I
found was that she is sometimes knows as Kore.  However it still seems
to me that there has to be some other significance.  Thanks for the
suggestions though.

Searching the "International Genealogical Index" the name of Ceora is
to be found in "North America" only (no results if you select one of
the other regions).

The daughter of Demeter is Persphone (Proserpina in Latin). But she
was often called 'Kore' , which is the Greek for 'Maiden'. It is a
title rather than a name.
Amber

Interesting...  Still no one seems to know if the name has any meaning.
Thanks again everyone.

With regard to a possible Greek origin pinkfreud-ga may have the
answer ("studied Greek mythology", Question ID: 388585).

My best guess is that Ceora is a variant spelling of the Irish name Ciara or Ciora.

Just in case it is "a variant spelling of the Irish name" Ciora:

According to 
An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language
MacBain, Alexander
Gairm Publications, 1982 (Reprint of 2nd edition (revised) - 1911)
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/index.html

"Ciora" is "a pet lamb or sheep"
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb08.html#ciora

Just in case it is "a variant spelling of the Irish name" Ciara:

Ciara: "Feminine form of CIARAN"
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/iri.html#ciara

Ciaran:
http://www.geocities.com/edgarbook/names/c/ciaran.html

Thanks, we thought it might be Irish, but did not know what to look
for in terms of  how it might have been spelled.

In view of the comments, I must agree that the meaning is obscure.

Whatever ... it's a very nice name.

Hi,
	
I'm not a professional researcher, but I've opened an account in
google just because I think I might contribute to your question.

I'm not sure if that's the original meaning, but in Hebrew Ceora mean barley.
In this context, the pronunciation of Ceora would be "Ce" like in
celebrity and "ora' like in oracle (emphasize both on "Ce" and on
"ra")

Barley has an important role for Jews, as it's the second of the 7
goods in which Israel was blessed: "a land with wheat and barley,
vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey" (Deuteronomy
8, 8).

And I think that's a better interpretation than "lamb or sheep" :-)

Yours,
Ofer