Cara
About Cara
Cara is a simple, sweet, Italian endearment that enjoyed its greatest popularity from the 1970s through the 1990s, reaching a high of Number 189 in 1977. Despite the rising celebrity of English model/actress Cara Delevingne, who played Enchantress in Suicide Squad, Cara dropped off the Top 1000 in the US in 2020, perhaps because it sounds too close to the dreaded Karen.
I Cara remains a highly popular choice in Ireland, perhaps used as an Anglicized form of the Irish Ciara or Ceara. the Evelyn Waugh novel Brideshead Revisited, the Cara character is French.
Damon Wayans took the endearment aspect even further when he named his now-grown daughter Cara Mia.
As of October 2026, Cara ranked #1326 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #184 in 1985, Nameberry popularity #710.
Editor's take: The name Cara is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dear; friend; face".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #675 | 421 | 235.7 |
| 2015 | #730 | 389 | 217.9 |
| 2016 | #808 | 352 | 198.6 |
| 2017 | #861 | 318 | 184.2 |
| 2018 | #874 | 310 | 182.2 |
| 2019 | #1,020 | 252 | 150.1 |
| 2020 | #910 | 288 | 178.2 |
| 2021 | #1,024 | 248 | 151.1 |
| 2022 | #1,162 | 208 | 126.8 |
| 2023 | #1,262 | 182 | 113.4 |
| 2024 | #1,294 | 178 | 109.9 |
| 2025 | #1,326 | 168 | 104.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Cara.
- Lara
- Rosalyn
- Gianna
- Camila
- Julianna
- Lia
- Kara
- Lilliana
- Leia
- Alana
- Jenna
- Lana
- Annabella
- Karina
- Erin
- Renee
- Lea
- Arielle
- Laila
- Elisa
Cara on lists
Famous Caras
- Cara Jocelyn Delevingne
English model and actress
- Cara Jenkins
English actress
- Cara Williams (born Bernice Kamiat)
American actress
- Cara Black
Zimbabwean tennis player
- Cara Seymour
English actress
- Cara Elizabeth Dillon
Irish singer
- Cara Lockwood
American novelist
- Cara Pifko
Canadian actress
- Cara Luft
Canadian singer,songwriter
- Cara Hain Wakelin
Canadian model and actress
- Cara Zavaleta
American model and actress
- Cara Elizabeth DeLizia
American actress
- Cara Readle
Welsh actress
- Cara Renee Gorges
Miss Kansas USA 2007
- Cara Elizabeth Quici
American singer,songwriter
- Cara Buono
American actress
- Cara Connolly (b. 1974)
daughter of comedian Billy Connolly
- Cara Mia Dianne Wayans (b. 1987)
daughter of actor/comedian Damon Wayans
- Cara Rose (b. 1989)
daughter of baseball player Pete Rose
- Cara Ethel Kennedy
Cuomo (b. 1995), daughter of politician Andrew Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy; granddaughter of politician Robert F. Kennedy; twin of sister Mariah Matilda
- Cara Nicole Gosselin (b. 2000)
daughter of reality TV personalities Jon & Kate Gosselin
- Cara Morkel (b. 2011)
daughter of cricketer Albie Morkel
Cara in pop culture
- Cara
Irish Gaelic word for "friend", explaining why it's so popular in Ireland.
- Cara
character in "Teen Idol" by Meg Cabot
- Cara
character in the Divergent trilogy
- Cara Coburn
character on TV's "The Tomorrow People"
- Cara Mason
character in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
- Cara
character in "Atlantia" by Ally Condie
- "Caraphernelia"
a song by the band Pierce The Veil in which the title is a play on of the word paraphernalia and the name Cara
- Carasynthia "Cara" Dune
character in Star Wars show "The Mandalorian"
Variations & nicknames
- CarraIrish