Girls' name · peaked in 1991
Kara name popularity since 1925
102,001 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kara. Half of them were born in 1988 or earlier, so the typical Kara is about 38 years old in 2026. Kara peaked in 1991 as the #106 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 102,001
- Named Kara, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,075 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 101,731 girls · 270 boys
- Most popular in
- Idaho
- 1.61× its national share
Peak year is the year Kara 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.
Kara births per year, 1925–2025
1991 was the biggest year for Kara both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1958 and 1963, Kara became 7× more common, from 1 in 16,500 baby girls to 1 in 2,360.
- Steepest fall: Between 2018 and 2023, its share of baby girls fell by 52%, from 1 in 2,740 to 1 in 5,670.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kara's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kara.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kara 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 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 81 | 0 | #3,308 |
| 1940s | 221 | 0 | #1,959 |
| 1950s | 743 | 11 | #1,100 |
| 1960s | 7,039 | 31 | #319 |
| 1970s | 19,760 | 73 | #118 |
| 1980s | 27,506 | 123 | #98 |
| 1990s | 23,514 | 24 | #152 |
| 2000s | 13,491 | 8 | #267 |
| 2010s | 7,487 | 0 | #507 |
| 2020–25 | 1,889 | 0 | #1,075 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
42.5% of babies named Kara from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Kara is most popular
The index compares Kara'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 Kara.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 1.61× | 644 |
| Indiana | 1.52× | 3,627 |
| Massachusetts | 1.49× | 3,563 |
| New Hampshire | 1.49× | 471 |
| Iowa | 1.48× | 1,897 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kara 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kara (this page) | 101,731 | 1991 |
| Cara | 52,683 | 1977 |
| Karah | 3,274 | 2000 |
| Karra | 1,054 | 1989 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kara's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kara.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kara (1991).
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