Lara
Meaning
variant of Larunda, a nymph in Roman mythology
One Lara, two histories
Latin · variant of Larunda, a nymph in Roman mythology.
Larissa · Lara is also an established short form of Larissa.
The story
Lara has two old routes and one unforgettable journey through fiction. In Russian it is a familiar form of Larisa. Boris Pasternak gave that name to Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago, and the novel and its celebrated film introduced Lara to audiences far beyond Russia. A separate classical route connects Lara with Larunda, a Roman nymph, so the same four letters can belong to different naming traditions. That distinction is worth keeping: Doctor Zhivago explains one cultural journey, not the whole name. Lara later found an especially natural home in Brazil, where its open vowels fit Portuguese beautifully and the name is now heard across a young generation. The strands are interesting without numerical proof. Lara can evoke a complicated literary heroine, preserve a trace of Roman myth, or simply work as a clear, warm name in everyday life. It is concise without feeling abrupt, international without pretending to have only one origin, and complete without requiring a nickname.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lara peaked in the 1970s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Popularity in Brazil
281,125 people · the #110 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 723 · median age 9
Among people named Lara living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 53,628 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Lara
Most people given the name Lara in the United States were born between 1970 and 2009. The Lara 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 Lara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lara 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 Lara fits with your family’s names and surname.
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