[5] Another source posits that it was named for Norman Kittson, an early historical figure of the region.

The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, carved by drainages and lightly dotted with lakes and swampy areas.

[7] The terrain slopes to the north and west with its highest point near its southeast corner, at 1,224 ft (373 m) ASL.

[9] Flom Township contains a prominent, irregular hill of morainic drift known as Frenchman's Bluff.

It rises 150 ft (46 m) above the shoreline of the former Lake Agassis, three miles (4.8 km) to the northwest.

From 1932 to 2012, Norman County voted Democratic, typically by large margins, in all but three elections, two were the nationwide Republican landslide victories of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and Richard Nixon in 1972, and the third was in 2000, when strong third party showings in the state helped swing the county to George W. Bush.

He increased his margin of victory in 2020 to nearly 16%, and turned in the best performance for a Republican in Norman County since Herbert Hoover in 1928.