Meaning not yet researched.
Cara: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 168 in 2025. Its best rank was #184 in 1985.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #184 in 1985; #1,326 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Cara in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,326 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1985, at #184.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Cara: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 168 girls in 2025. Peak: #184 in 1985 · most girls in one year: 1,465 (1985).
In 2025, 168 US girls were named Cara, making it the 1,326th most common girls’ name of the year, down 29 places from #1,297 in 2024. That is 10 fewer than the 178 girls named Cara in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #184, reached in 1985. That year also had the most girls given the name: 1,465. For comparison, it was #730 in 2015 and #1,101 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Cara in 143 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1882 with 5 babies. In all, 53,367 US babies have been given the name, 99.8% of them girls and 0.1% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1980s, with 13,317 babies named Cara.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 2,505 US girls were named Cara; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 352. In 2025 that was about 1 in 9,567 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Cara ranked highest in New Jersey in 2025, at #728 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Cheryl (440,517 babies since 1880), Kara (102,025 babies since 1880), Karina (61,717 babies since 1880) and Ciara (34,883 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Carrah, Caragh and Cairra are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English and Italian. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Carrah (155), Caragh (83), Cairra (40), Cahira (18), Cairah (5).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Cara in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 39 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 10 | #728 | #510 |
| New York | 18 | #867 | #501 |
| Massachusetts | 5 | #903 | #579 |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | #1,033 | #379 |
| Ohio | 8 | #1,048 | #548 |
| Washington | 5 | #1,078 | #715 |
| Illinois | 7 | #1,140 | #818 |
| California | 21 | #1,191 | #891 |
| Michigan | 5 | #1,249 | #1,140 |
| Georgia | 5 | #1,575 | #908 |
| Florida | 5 | #2,224 | #805 |
| Texas | 8 | #2,441 | #878 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 168 | #1,326 | — | — |
| 2024 | 178 | #1,297 | — | — |
| 2023 | 182 | #1,264 | — | — |
| 2022 | 208 | #1,163 | — | — |
| 2021 | 248 | #1,025 | — | — |
| 2020 | 289 | #908 | — | — |
| 2019 | 252 | #1,021 | — | — |
| 2018 | 310 | #874 | — | — |
| 2017 | 318 | #861 | — | — |
| 2016 | 352 | #808 | — | — |
| 2015 | 389 | #730 | — | — |
| 2014 | 421 | #676 | — | — |
| 2013 | 451 | #620 | — | — |
| 2012 | 404 | #698 | — | — |
| 2011 | 473 | #609 | — | — |
| 2010 | 460 | #643 | — | — |
| 2009 | 663 | #468 | — | — |
| 2008 | 681 | #464 | — | — |
| 2007 | 579 | #539 | — | — |
| 2006 | 531 | #554 | — | — |
| 2005 | 522 | #550 | — | — |
| 2004 | 570 | #508 | — | — |
| 2003 | 568 | #503 | — | — |
| 2002 | 584 | #481 | — | — |
| 2001 | 604 | #459 | — | — |
| 2000 | 732 | #393 | — | — |
| 1999 | 728 | #386 | — | — |
| 1998 | 807 | #359 | — | — |
| 1997 | 819 | #343 | — | — |
| 1996 | 862 | #324 | — | — |
| 1995 | 900 | #309 | — | — |
| 1994 | 1,026 | #273 | — | — |
| 1993 | 1,106 | #251 | — | — |
| 1992 | 1,125 | #248 | 5 | #8,599 |
| 1991 | 1,259 | #228 | — | — |
| 1990 | 1,212 | #234 | — | — |
| 1989 | 1,275 | #211 | 9 | #5,221 |
| 1988 | 1,268 | #207 | 5 | #7,439 |
| 1987 | 1,232 | #213 | 8 | #5,038 |
| 1986 | 1,338 | #194 | — | — |
| 1985 | 1,465 | #184 | 7 | #5,218 |
| 1984 | 1,440 | #191 | — | — |
| 1983 | 1,394 | #191 | — | — |
| 1982 | 1,328 | #204 | 6 | #5,730 |
| 1981 | 1,261 | #209 | 5 | #6,404 |
| 1980 | 1,276 | #203 | — | — |
| 1979 | 1,247 | #211 | 7 | #4,912 |
| 1978 | 1,346 | #191 | — | — |
| 1977 | 1,411 | #189 | 5 | #5,964 |
| 1976 | 1,103 | #219 | 5 | #5,719 |
| 1975 | 1,192 | #207 | — | — |
| 1974 | 1,074 | #235 | — | — |
| 1973 | 847 | #286 | — | — |
| 1972 | 722 | #324 | — | — |
| 1971 | 755 | #337 | — | — |
| 1970 | 716 | #351 | — | — |
| 1969 | 636 | #367 | — | — |
| 1968 | 508 | #414 | — | — |
| 1967 | 604 | #366 | — | — |
| 1966 | 677 | #347 | — | — |
| 1965 | 987 | #274 | — | — |
| 1964 | 663 | #366 | — | — |
| 1963 | 682 | #368 | — | — |
| 1962 | 448 | #455 | — | — |
| 1961 | 340 | #531 | — | — |
| 1960 | 234 | #663 | — | — |
| 1959 | 200 | #706 | — | — |
| 1958 | 134 | #878 | — | — |
| 1957 | 165 | #782 | — | — |
| 1956 | 172 | #737 | — | — |
| 1955 | 154 | #773 | — | — |
| 1954 | 124 | #847 | — | — |
| 1953 | 101 | #940 | — | — |
| 1952 | 87 | #1,008 | — | — |
| 1951 | 84 | #1,015 | — | — |
| 1950 | 70 | #1,101 | — | — |
| 1949 | 72 | #1,058 | — | — |
| 1948 | 51 | #1,287 | — | — |
| 1947 | 53 | #1,240 | — | — |
| 1946 | 47 | #1,257 | — | — |
| 1945 | 46 | #1,157 | — | — |
| 1944 | 41 | #1,238 | — | — |
| 1943 | 54 | #1,089 | — | — |
| 1942 | 48 | #1,140 | — | — |
| 1941 | 44 | #1,120 | — | — |
| 1940 | 36 | #1,221 | — | — |
| 1939 | 26 | #1,477 | — | — |
| 1938 | 38 | #1,185 | — | — |
| 1937 | 45 | #1,064 | — | — |
| 1936 | 39 | #1,137 | — | — |
| 1935 | 27 | #1,422 | — | — |
| 1934 | 37 | #1,170 | — | — |
| 1933 | 22 | #1,613 | — | — |
| 1932 | 28 | #1,424 | — | — |
| 1931 | 15 | #2,121 | — | — |
| 1930 | 28 | #1,465 | — | — |
| 1929 | 30 | #1,394 | — | — |
| 1928 | 20 | #1,910 | — | — |
| 1927 | 25 | #1,684 | — | — |
| 1926 | 43 | #1,169 | — | — |
| 1925 | 27 | #1,614 | — | — |
| 1924 | 30 | #1,536 | — | — |
| 1923 | 33 | #1,394 | — | — |
| 1922 | 34 | #1,372 | — | — |
| 1921 | 21 | #1,932 | — | — |
| 1920 | 18 | #2,085 | — | — |
| 1919 | 19 | #1,928 | — | — |
| 1918 | 33 | #1,336 | — | — |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,610 | — | — |
| 1916 | 27 | #1,411 | — | — |
| 1915 | 30 | #1,289 | — | — |
| 1914 | 19 | #1,492 | — | — |
| 1913 | 21 | #1,234 | — | — |
| 1912 | 16 | #1,360 | — | — |
| 1911 | 12 | #1,382 | — | — |
| 1910 | 19 | #1,004 | — | — |
| 1909 | 12 | #1,228 | — | — |
| 1908 | 12 | #1,216 | — | — |
| 1907 | 16 | #951 | — | — |
| 1906 | 11 | #1,163 | — | — |
| 1905 | 7 | #1,560 | — | — |
| 1904 | 11 | #1,101 | — | — |
| 1903 | 9 | #1,220 | — | — |
| 1902 | 11 | #1,079 | — | — |
| 1901 | 7 | #1,361 | — | — |
| 1900 | 17 | #923 | — | — |
| 1899 | 11 | #991 | — | — |
| 1898 | 16 | #845 | — | — |
| 1897 | 11 | #991 | — | — |
| 1896 | 8 | #1,223 | — | — |
| 1895 | 12 | #937 | — | — |
| 1894 | 8 | #1,145 | — | — |
| 1892 | 7 | #1,185 | — | — |
| 1891 | 11 | #848 | — | — |
| 1890 | 7 | #1,113 | — | — |
| 1889 | 7 | #1,039 | — | — |
| 1888 | 9 | #905 | — | — |
| 1887 | 10 | #739 | — | — |
| 1886 | 6 | #1,004 | — | — |
| 1885 | 12 | #631 | — | — |
| 1884 | 8 | #799 | — | — |
| 1883 | 6 | #835 | — | — |
| 1882 | 5 | #928 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).