Cora
Top 1000
About Cora
Cora is a lovely, old-fashioned girls' that has been recently rejuvenated by its contemporary-feeling simplicity. In fact, Cora seemed headed straight for the top of the popularity list when the coronavirus pandemic somewhat weakened its appeal.
Though she has never been completely out of favor, Cora has had her ups and downs. A Top 20 name in the 1880's, she had sunk to Number 876 in 1988 before reversing course yet again. A more recent inspiration is the appealing American-born Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham on Downton Abbey.
In classical mythology, Cora—or Kore—was a euphemistic name of Persephone, goddess of fertility and the underworld. Kore was the name used when referencing her identity as the goddess of Spring, while Persephone referred to her role as queen of the Underworld.
Cora gained popularity as a given name after James Fenimore Cooper used it as the name of his heroine, Cora Munro, in his 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans.
While a complete name unto itself, some parents who love Cora may want to use it as a short form for such names as Cordelia or Coraline. Cora's fashionable sisters include Clara, Nora, Corinne, Corinna and Coralie.
Pronounced KOR-uh.
As of October 2026, Cora ranked #113 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #15 in 1880, Nameberry popularity #34.
Editor's take: The name Cora is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "maiden".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #103 | 2,967 | 1,660.9 |
| 2015 | #88 | 3,403 | 1,906.3 |
| 2016 | #87 | 3,373 | 1,903.5 |
| 2017 | #83 | 3,445 | 1,995.4 |
| 2018 | #73 | 3,596 | 2,114 |
| 2019 | #71 | 3,601 | 2,145.5 |
| 2020 | #88 | 3,034 | 1,876.8 |
| 2021 | #87 | 3,005 | 1,831.4 |
| 2022 | #75 | 3,073 | 1,873.6 |
| 2023 | #93 | 2,749 | 1,713.2 |
| 2024 | #102 | 2,570 | 1,586.2 |
| 2025 | #113 | 2,428 | 1,510.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Cora.
- Eloise
- Nora
- Adelaide
- Genevive
- Clara
- Penelope
- Mae
- Maisie
- Adeline
- Maeve
- Evelyn
- Esme
- Ada
- Eleanor
- Elsie
- Eliza
- Audrey
- Thea
- Genevieve
- Stella
Cora on lists
Famous Coras
- (Mary) Cora Urquhart Brown
Potter, American stage actress
- Cora Corre
English model; granddaughter of Vivienne Westwood
- Cora Emmanuel
French model
- Cora Lijek
American ambassador held hostage in Iran
- Anna Cora Mowatt
American novelist/playwright/actress
- Cora Pearl (born Emma Elizabeth Crouch)
English,French courtesan
- Cora Sandel (born Sara Cecilia Görvell Fabricius)
Norwegian novelist
- Cora Walton
birth name of Koko Taylor, American gospel singer
- Cora Alice Du Bois
American cultural anthropologist
- Cora Miao
Chinese actress
- Sexy Cora (born Carolin Ebert)
German adult film actress
- Cora Coralina (born Ana Lins dos Guimarães Peixoto)
Brazilian poet
- Cora Combs
American pro wrestler
- Cora Lodencia Veronica Scott
American spiritualist
- Cora Smith Eaton
American suffragist
- Cora Sue Collins
American child actress
- Cora Alvillar
YouTube makeup artist
- Cora Eisenberg
American puppeteer with husband Bil Baird
- Cora Jakes Coleman (b. 1988)
daughter of televangelist T.D. Jakes
- Cora Kathryn Ann Altman
daughter of Robert Reed Altman; granddaughter of director Robert Altman
- Cora Barucha Polis Reis (b. 2014)
daughter of U.S. Congressman Jared Polis
- Cora Atwood (b. 2017)
daughter of Youtube stars Roman Atwood and Brittney Smith
Cora in pop culture
- Cora
the Maiden, epithet for the goddess Persephone, modern version of ancient greek Korē
- Cora Munro
character in James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans"
- Cora Crawley
Countess of Grantham, character on TV's "Downton Abbey"
- Cora Hale
character on MTV's "Teen Wolf"
- Cora Simmons
Brown, character in film "Meet the Browns"
- Cora
Regina's mother on TV's "Once Upon a Time"
- Cora Cross
character on British soap "EastEnders"
- Cora Ryan
character in film Age of Consent (1969)
- Cora
wife of Vernon Tull in As I Lay Dying (1930) by William Faulkner
- Cora Jenkins
main character in Langston Hughes' "Cora Unashamed"
- Cora
the turned,evil sister of Stella in the Disney series, "Star Darlings"
- Cora
Canadian restaurant breakfast food chain
- "Cora
" opera by Étienne Méhul
- Cora
young girl in steerage in film "Titanic"
- Cora Bell
character in "The Friday Society"
- Quorra
character in film "Tron"
- Cora Veralux
character in the movie "Ratchet & Clank"
- Cora Harper
character in the game "Mass Effect: Andromeda"
- Cora
means "hearts" in Latin
- Cora Mason
character in "The Cage" series by Megan Shepherd
- Cora King
main character in the ebook "Cora" by Relina Skye
- Princess Cora
a character from Sofia the First
- Cora means Mermaid
Crown
- Cora Tannetti
main character from "The Sinner"