Cara
Meaning
“Italian for 'dear, beloved'”
One Cara, two histories
Italian · dear or beloved, from the Italian word cara.
Irish · friend, from the Irish word cara.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cara peaked in the 1970s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
70 people · the #52,921 first name in Brazil · median age 16
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Cara
Most people given the name Cara in the United States were born between 1970 and 1999. The Cara you meet today is most often in her 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Cara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cara truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Cara fits with your family’s names and surname.
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