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Normally, we say "an ordinary woman", but I read an article about Kate Middleton recently, the Duchess of Cambridge, it says she isn't a normal woman. From the article, I can tell that the author means she's extraordinary. But it still surprised me a lot, cause someone told me the difference between "normal" and "common" before.

He said "normal" is used to describe "standard". When it's used to say a person, it more sounds like this person doesn't have a healthy or mental problem rather than ordinary.

But now I was confused about the usage, and the difference between "normal" and "common"

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    If you want the meaning in context then you'll need to provide the context.
    – KillingTime
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 9:53
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    Google ngrams actually seem to argue against my feeling that 'isn't a normal woman' sounds more natural (linguistically) than 'is a normal woman' (a strong hint of negative polarity), so I won't write an 'answer'. But 'isn't a normal woman' sounds idiomatic ... though I'd expect this to point to (a) almost superpowers rather than mental disorder. Well, perhaps possibly (b) eccentricity works too.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 10:49
  • "it sounds like this woman suffered from a mental disorder" CONTEXT please. A two-word phrase could be satirical, derogatory or factual.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 11:49
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    Nothing wrong with it. Writer's choice.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 11:50
  • To say someone 'isn't normal' suggests to me that you regard them as freakish in some way rather than mentally ill. But if the article was about the Duchess of Cambridge, no doubt the author meant that she isn't an ordinary, everyday woman. Nothing 'incorrect' about the usage.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 13:32

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It sounds idiomatic to me. Here are some other examples of "normal woman" being used outside of health or mental health contexts.

Normal can mean "not a radical feminist". Finding a ‘Normal’ Woman: Selection Processes for Board Membership:

"They told me they wanted a woman on the board who was married, who had children, who had her master’s degree, who had experience in the labor market, but was still a ‘normal’ woman and not a radical feminist or a battle-axe. .... also someone who does not get sidetracked by details."

Normal can mean not a part of the "rigidly policed ideal of beauty – young, skinny, white, impossibly beautiful". Put a normal woman in a bikini. That’s how to bust the beauty myth:

Put a normal woman in a bikini and it’s obvious how little of the magic is down to the clothes, how hard magazines have to work just to make them look interesting.

Normal can mean someone who's acting like she's not a superhero. Sarah Nicole Prickett on the Myth of the Wonder Woman:

“I’m almost jealous of myself as Wonder Woman,” she thinks in one early issue, from the Marston/Peter years. “Nothing I do as a normal woman, Diana Prince, ever impresses anybody.” Like a normal woman, she can, as a matter of fact, do several impressive things her boss cannot. She is always loaning him confidence, free of interest. She takes excellent dictation and types like hell, and Steve says she is “quite the little psychologist.”

The first one is still an example of "normal" being contrasted with something negative, but the other two are examples where "normal" means "not extraordinary", the same as it does in your context.

I don't think "common" would work here (but "ordinary" would), since "common" can mean "without rank", changing the intended meaning.

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