Kara
Meaning
variant of Cara, 'dear, beloved'
Famously borne by Kara Walker, whose cut-paper silhouettes confront slavery's brutal folklore.
The story
Kara is most simply the Italian endearment cara, dear or beloved, worn as a name, though the name arrives by other routes too, including as a modern spelling of Irish Cara and as a Scandinavian short of Karin. American use begins in the 1930s and builds patiently to a long even band from the 1980s through the 2010s, the k-spelling era treating it particularly well. It has eased modestly since. Kara's appeal is pure economy: four letters, two open syllables, one warm meaning, no explanation needed anywhere English is spoken. And it carries just enough quiet mythology, from Renaissance love letters to the comic-book alter ego of Supergirl herself, to keep those four letters from ever feeling thin. It is the kind of name that survives the second pass, once the louder candidates have argued themselves out of the running.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kara peaked in the 1980s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
92 people · the #43,748 first name in Brazil · median age 10
Among people named Kara living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Kara
Most people given the name Kara in the United States were born between 1970 and 1999. The Kara 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 Kara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kara 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 Kara fits with your family’s names and surname.
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