Cara
Cara is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 178 births. Its best rank was 184th, in 1985.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 1780.01% of girls
- Peak year
- 19851,465 births
- Best rank
- #184in 1985
- Since 1882
- 53,135people given the name
The story in the numbers
53,135 girls have been named Cara in the United States since 1882, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1985, with 1,465 births.
It is falling: its share of births is 60% or less of what it was ten years ago.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1985, and the 1980s alone account for 25%. It has spent 80 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Cara | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 63 | |
| 1890s | 91 | |
| 1900s | 113 | |
| 1910s | 219 | |
| 1920s | 281 | |
| 1930s | 305 | |
| 1940s | 492 | |
| 1950s | 1,291 | |
| 1960s | 5,779 | |
| 1970s | 10,413 | |
| 1980s | 13,277 | |
| 1990s | 9,843 | |
| 2000s | 6,034 | |
| 2010s | 3,830 | |
| 2020s | 1,104 |
In 1985, its biggest year
Cara was the 184th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1985 were Jessica, Ashley, Jennifer, Amanda and Sarah. See all of 1985.
Names that rose and fell with Cara
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Alisonpeak 1980
- Aleciapeak 1987
- Karapeak 1991
- Kamiepeak 1978
- Rachellpeak 1982
- Maricelapeak 1977
- Andriapeak 1980
- Aliciapeak 1984
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.