Find out how popular the last name Cora is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cora.

Cora, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cora surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cora in America

Cora is the 14995th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cora surname appeared 1,970 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cora.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cora to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cora

The surname Cora originated in Spain, emerging in the late 15th century. It is derived from the Latin word "caurus," meaning "northwest wind." This suggests the name may have initially referred to someone living in a location exposed to strong northwesterly winds.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Cora surname can be found in a Spanish municipal census from 1492, listing a family by that name residing in the town of Seville. In the 16th century, the name appeared in various legal documents and property records across Andalusia and Extremadura regions of Spain.

During the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries, several individuals bearing the Cora surname accompanied expeditions to the New World. Notable among them was Pedro de Cora, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru under Francisco Pizarro in the 1530s.

In England, the Cora surname emerged later, likely as a variant spelling of the more common name "Corah" or "Corrah." The earliest recorded instance is found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Warwickshire, which mention the baptism of William Cora in 1612.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Cora name appears in various English records, including those of the East India Company. One notable figure was Robert Cora (1672-1744), an English merchant and textile trader who established a successful business exporting woolen goods to the American colonies.

In the 19th century, the surname gained prominence in the United States, particularly in the Southern states. A well-known figure was John Cora (1828-1905), a successful plantation owner and businessman from Mississippi who served as a Confederate officer during the American Civil War.

Other notable individuals with the Cora surname include:

1. Miguel Cora (1856-1932), a Spanish artist and painter known for his landscapes and portraits of rural life in Andalusia.

2. Mabel Cora (1889-1971), an American actress and vaudeville performer who appeared in several Broadway productions in the early 20th century.

3. Rafael Cora (1892-1963), a Cuban baseball player who played in the Negro Leagues and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975.

4. Cora Coralina (1889-1985), a Brazilian poet and writer whose real name was Anna Lins dos Guimarães Peixoto Bretas, but adopted the pen name Cora Coralina.

5. José Cora (born 1975), a former Major League Baseball player and manager, notably serving as the manager of the Boston Red Sox in 2012.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cora

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cora.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cora was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cora has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cora was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cora, please contact us.

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