Cara
Italian feminine form of the Latin word "carus" meaning beloved, dear.
Name Census estimates that about 48,344 living Americans carry the first name Cara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cara today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cara births was 1985 (1,472 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cara. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cara with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Cara is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 62 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
48K
~ 1 in 7,090 Americans
Peak year
1985
1,472 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1992 SSA rank
#1,294
Tracked since 1882
Census
Cara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 48,441 people with the first name Cara, which placed it at #927 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#927
National first-name rank
People counted
48K
48,441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
16.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cara is White at 85.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (3.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cara described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.8% · 41,582
- Two or more races4.1% · 1,963
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 1,698
- Black or African American3.5% · 1,678
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 1,213
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 307
Gender
Gender distribution for Cara
Out of the 53,197 babies given the name Cara since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Cara as a male name
- Ranked #8,599 in 1992
- 5 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1989 (9 births)
Cara as a female name
- Ranked #1,294 in 2024
- 178 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1985 (1,465 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cara appears almost entirely female. Of the 48,443 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Cara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cara from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 13,317 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cara by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Cara, while Alaska, Wyoming, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 958 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cara
The name Cara is derived from the Latin word "carus," which means "beloved" or "dear." It is believed to have originated in ancient Rome, where it was likely used as a term of endearment or a nickname for someone who was particularly cherished or admired.
Cara has its roots in the Italian language and culture, where it has been a popular name for centuries. It was commonly used as a pet name or a shortened form of longer Italian names such as Carissima or Caramia, which also carry the meaning of "dearest" or "most beloved."
The name Cara has been documented in various historical records and texts throughout the centuries. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the works of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived in the 1st century BC. In his collection of love poems, Amores, Ovid uses the term "cara" to address his beloved.
In the Middle Ages, the name Cara gained popularity in Italy and other parts of Europe. It was often used as a name for girls born into noble or aristocratic families, reflecting the affectionate and endearing connotations of the name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Cara can be found in the historical records of the Medici family, a prominent Italian Renaissance dynasty. In the 15th century, there was a woman named Cara de' Medici, who was a member of this influential family.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cara. One of the most famous was Cara Delevingne, an English model, actress, and singer born in 1992. Another well-known Cara was Cara Zeichner, an American television personality and journalist born in 1981.
In literature, the name Cara has been used for several fictional characters. One notable example is Cara Dune, a character from the Star Wars universe introduced in the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian."
Other notable individuals named Cara include Cara Buono, an American actress born in 1974, and Cara Black, an American crime fiction writer born in 1951.
While the name Cara has its roots in ancient Rome and has been used throughout history, it remains a popular and endearing choice for parents today, carrying with it a sense of affection and warmth.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cara
People
Cara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 48,344 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cara going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 7,090 US residents.
Is Cara a common name?
We classify Cara as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 53,197 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cara most popular?
The single biggest year for Cara was 1985, when 1,472 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cara is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 48,441 people with the name Cara, or 16.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #927 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cara in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cara appears almost entirely female. Of the 48,443 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cara is White at 85.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (3.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cara most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.8% (41,582 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cara a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Cara in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cara in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cara can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Cara?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Cara at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.