Girls' name · peaked in 1977
Cara name popularity since 1925
52,745 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Cara. Half of them were born in 1985 or earlier, so the typical Cara is about 41 years old in 2026. Cara peaked in 1977 as the #189 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 52,745
- Named Cara, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,326 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.9% girls
- 52,683 girls · 62 boys
- Most popular in
- Connecticut
- 1.49× its national share
Peak year is the year Cara made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Cara births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1985. Measured as a share of all babies, Cara peaked in 1977.
- Fastest rise: Between 1958 and 1963, Cara became 5.3× more common, from 1 in 15,000 baby girls to 1 in 2,830.
- Steepest fall: Between 2020 and 2025, its share of baby girls fell by 42%, from 1 in 5,590 to 1 in 9,570.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Cara's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Cara.
Decade by decade
Babies named Cara in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 145 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 305 | 0 | #1,422 |
| 1940s | 492 | 0 | #1,157 |
| 1950s | 1,291 | 0 | #773 |
| 1960s | 5,779 | 0 | #274 |
| 1970s | 10,413 | 17 | #207 |
| 1980s | 13,277 | 40 | #184 |
| 1990s | 9,844 | 5 | #309 |
| 2000s | 6,034 | 0 | #550 |
| 2010s | 3,830 | 0 | #730 |
| 2020–25 | 1,273 | 0 | #1,326 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
37.0% of babies named Cara from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Cara is most popular
The index compares Cara's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Cara.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | 1.49× | 798 |
| Massachusetts | 1.49× | 1,760 |
| Maryland | 1.46× | 1,101 |
| New Jersey | 1.46× | 1,992 |
| Missouri | 1.33× | 1,438 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Cara and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Cara (this page) | 52,683 | 1977 |
| Kara | 101,731 | 1991 |
| Carra | 1,060 | 1880 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Cara's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Cara.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Cara (1977).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data