first name
CARA
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 48,443 people named Cara, 85.8% reported their origin as White, 4.1% as two or more races and 3.5% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
What should your name go on next?
Thanks! We'll make the most-wanted one next.
Cara peaked in 1985, when 1,472 babies got the name.
At least 53,367 babies have been given the name since 1882. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Cara by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #397. The largest share of babies named Cara, 36.6%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Cara is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Cara has been most common in Maryland (1.5×), Connecticut (1.5×), and New Jersey (1.5×), and least common in North Dakota (0.32×).
48,978 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Cara
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Cara, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Cara ranks #35,309 of 156,621, with 687 people. See Cara as a last name
Compare
🔎 CARA 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 6,235 Americans Rarer than 68.9% of us Peaked in 1985 with 1,472 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/cara/