Cara

What Cara means

Means “dear”

20th-century English coinage from Italian cara (“dear”) or Irish cara (“friend”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Cara” (revision 93950792), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Cara?

US: Falling: down from #728 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #248 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1977, when 1,411 girls got the name (#189 that year). First in the US records in 1882.

How common

• About 1 in 9,567 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,980 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 994 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NJ (0.28 per 1,000 girls), NY (0.23 per 1,000 girls), MA (0.21 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Cara is #1326 in the US and #468 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Cara were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Cora2,428 US · 368 E&W
• Kira801 US · 89 E&W
• Kora603 US · 23 E&W
• Kyra329 US · 88 E&W
• Kara226 US · 31 E&W
• Kaira152 US · 82 E&W
• Cori100 US
• Kari90 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Kara

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Cara

Girls

• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Alexandra#237“to defend + man”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*

For a brother

• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• Marcus#258Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1984, with 5,996 babies; 1,341 in 2025
• David#35“beloved”^*
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025
• Jordan#131Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #59 in 2015, #131 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Cara’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.