Dara
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Meaning
star; from Sanskrit tara. A true unisex classic and a great accidental crossover: the same spelling exists as an Irish name and a Persian one, so Cambodian American kids rarely have to explain it twice
How popular is Dara around the world?
In the United States, 1,214 babies were named Dara between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 52 boys named Dara were born in 2025, the 108th most common name among boys that year.
Dara is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, Argentina, Mexico City, Scotland, South Australia, Chile, Canada, England and Wales, Austria, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 18,000
In the United States, 1,214 babies were named Dara between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dara peaked in the 1960s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Dara has stayed between 977 and 3,090 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 860
In Ireland, 52 boys named Dara were born in 2025, the 108th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Argentina
1 in 4,800
In Argentina, 139 newborns were given the name Dara in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Mexico City City
1 in 5,300
In Mexico City, there were 22 registrations of Dara in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Scotland
1 in 5,700
In Scotland, 5 boys named Dara were registered in 2024, the 535th most common name among boys that year.
In Scotland, 3 girls named Dara were registered in 2024, the 790th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Dara in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Chile
1 in 9,400
In Chile, 19 girls were registered as Dara in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Canada
1 in 11,000
In Canada, 19 boys named Dara were born in 2024, ranked 1,232nd among boys that year.
In Canada, 13 girls named Dara were born in 2024, ranked 1,709th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 13,000
In England and Wales, 30 boys named Dara were born in 2025, ranked 1,007th among boys that year.
In England and Wales, 14 girls named Dara were born in 2025, ranked 2,006th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
1 in 15,000
In Austria, 3 boys named Dara were born in 2025, the 981st most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
In Austria, 2 girls named Dara were born in 2025, ranked 1,305th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
1 in 17,000
At the 2022 census, 11,688 people in Brazil were named Dara, ranked 1,528th, with a median age of 24.
Among people named Dara living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 592 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 50,000
In Spain, 868 residents are named Dara, ranked 1,618th among women, with a mean age of 17.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Dara is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Puerto Rico
last on record 2024
Dara is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 64 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Not on the record in New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Dara
Most people given the name Dara in the United States were born between 1960 and 2009. The Dara you meet today is most often in their 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Dara travels
Lao · star (from Pali-Sanskrit tara); in Laos as in Thailand it also means a screen star
Persian · wealthy, possessor (root shared with Darius)
Keep exploring
Lao baby names · Khmer and Cambodian baby names · Persian baby names · Short names · Gender-neutral names · Familiar but never popular
The Dara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dara 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 Dara fits with your family’s names and surname.
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