Kara
About Kara
Kara and the soundalike (though not necessarily related) Cara are among the most multi-cultural names around. Cara has roots in Latin, Italian, Irish, Spanish, and Portuguese, and Kara can be viewed as simply as K-starting version of Cara.
But Kara is also uniquely a Norse mythology name, drawn from the name of a valkyrie meaning "wild stormy one".. Kara was a Valkyrie, lover of Helgi, who charmed his enemies in battle by enchanting them with song.
Both Cara and Kara peaked in the 1980s but Kara remains more popular than the Cara variant.
Pronounced KAR-uh.
As of October 2026, Kara ranked #1075 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #95 in 1984, Nameberry popularity #492.
Editor's take: The name Kara is a girl's name of Irish, Latin, Scandinavian origin meaning "wild stormy one".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #440 | 730 | 408.7 |
| 2015 | #507 | 624 | 349.6 |
| 2016 | #499 | 626 | 353.3 |
| 2017 | #516 | 609 | 352.7 |
| 2018 | #500 | 621 | 365.1 |
| 2019 | #575 | 530 | 315.8 |
| 2020 | #673 | 426 | 263.5 |
| 2021 | #764 | 373 | 227.3 |
| 2022 | #870 | 319 | 194.5 |
| 2023 | #939 | 283 | 176.4 |
| 2024 | #988 | 261 | 161.1 |
| 2025 | #1,075 | 226 | 140.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Kara.
- Lilliana
- Lia
- Ashlyn
- Kaleigh
- Briella
- Aaliyah
- Arielle
- Laila
- Gianna
- Caralyn
- Malia
- Alana
- Alexia
- Raina
- Kira
- Karlyn
- Kyla
- Adilyn
- Cara
- Siena
Kara on lists
Famous Karas
- Kara Hayward
American actress
- Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi
American singer,songwriter
- Kara Elizabeth Drew aka Cherry
American pro wrestler
- Kara Janét Edwards
American voice actress and radio personality
- Kara Lord
Miss Guyana Universe 2011
- Kara Louise Tointon
English actress
- Kara Walker
American collage artist
- Kara Lynn Lindsay
American actress
- Kara Killmer
American actress
- Kara Janx
South African Project Runway contestant
- Kara Saun
American Project Runway contestant
- Kara Lindsay
American Broadway actress and singer
Kara in pop culture
- Kara Thrace aka Starbuck
main character on TV's "Battlestar Galactica"
- Kara Danvers aka Kara Zor
El aka Supergirl, Superman's cousin
- Kara Bannister
character in movie "The Dog Who Saved Christmas"
- Kara Leary
character in video game "The Sims 3" Moonlight Bay
- Kara Souders
character on TV's "The Red Band Society"
- Kara
Barbie doll character
- Kara the Jungle Princess
character in Exciting Comics
- Kara Tatiana "KT"
character in TV's "House of Anubis"
- Kara
character in the game "Detroit: Become Human"
- Kara
main character in the adaptation of "The Nutcracker" called "The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker" by Debbie Allen