girls' name ★ peaked 1991

Kara

Gender Girl Rank 2025 #1,075 Trend ↓ Falling 49%

Kara is both a given name and a surname with various, unrelated origins in various cultures.

Rank 2025
#1,075
among girls · ↓83 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
226
named Kara · -13% vs 2024
How common
1 in 7,112
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1991
3,281 babies
All-time total
102,025
#370 all-time among girls
First recorded
1896
in Social Security records

Kara popularity over time

102,025 babies have been named Kara since 1896, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.511.5218801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s 5 – 5 1 – #1,713
1900s – – – – – –
1910s 7 12 19 2 – #4,044
1920s – – – – – –
1930s 81 – 81 8 – #2,140
1940s 221 – 221 22 +173% #1,516
1950s 743 11 754 75 +241% #935
1960s 7,039 31 7,070 707 +838% #222
1970s 19,760 73 19,833 1,983 +181% #118
1980s 27,506 123 27,629 2,763 +39% #95
1990s 23,514 24 23,538 2,354 -15% #106
2000s 13,491 8 13,499 1,350 -43% #192
2010s 7,487 – 7,487 749 -45% #292
2020s (to 2025) 1,889 – 1,889 315 -58% #672

Where Kara is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 201 0.13 outside top 500
2027 183 0.11 outside top 500
2028 168 0.10 outside top 500
2029 156 0.10 outside top 500
2030 147 0.09 outside top 500

Where Kara is most popular

Girls named Kara per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.180 per 1,000. Strongest in Indiana, Ohio, and Montana.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Kara born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Indiana 62 0.442 +145%
Ohio 100 0.421 +134%
Montana 5 0.369 +105%
Kentucky 24 0.281 +56%
Missouri 33 0.274 +52%
Alabama 25 0.266 +48%
Pennsylvania 59 0.250 +38%
Michigan 41 0.225 +25%
Arizona 31 0.221 +23%
Colorado 24 0.215 +19%
Washington 31 0.215 +19%
Georgia 48 0.211 +17%
California 172 0.205 +14%
North Carolina 46 0.202 +12%
Illinois 45 0.197 +9%
Wisconsin 20 0.194 +8%
Maryland 20 0.189 +5%
Idaho 6 0.179 ≈ national
New York 69 0.174 ≈ national
Texas 139 0.173 ≈ national
Massachusetts 19 0.157 -13%
Florida 66 0.154 -14%
South Carolina 13 0.145 -20%
New Jersey 25 0.139 -23%
Nevada 6 0.129 -28%
Virginia 22 0.129 -28%
Utah 10 0.120 -33%
Tennessee 18 0.114 -37%
Arkansas 6 0.114 -37%
Iowa 5 0.086 -53%
Oklahoma 6 0.082 -55%
Louisiana 7 0.080 -56%
Minnesota 5 0.046 -74%
Alaska – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Kansas – – –
Maine – – –
Mississippi – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Kara

Kara is uncommon for girls in the United States, ranked #1,075 in 2025 with 226 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1896, 102,025 American babies have been named Kara. Its peak came in 1991, when 3,281 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1990s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Kara stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Kara?

The median living Kara is about 37 years old; half are between 27 and 46. An estimated 99 thousand people named Kara are alive in the United States today.

median 37 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Kara year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 226 #1,075 – –
2024 261 #992 – –
2023 283 #939 – –
2022 319 #872 – –
2021 373 #765 – –
2020 427 #672 – –
2019 530 #577 – –
2018 621 #501 – –
2017 610 #516 – –
2016 626 #499 – –
2015 624 #507 – –
2014 731 #440 – –
2013 834 #374 – –
2012 860 #364 – –
2011 938 #339 – –
2010 1,113 #292 – –
2009 1,391 #238 – –
2008 1,338 #257 – –
2007 1,171 #289 – –
2006 1,192 #282 – –
2005 1,230 #267 – –
2004 1,285 #249 8 #8,537
2003 1,356 #239 – –
2002 1,403 #223 – –
2001 1,476 #216 – –
2000 1,649 #192 – –
1995 2,148 #152 – –
1990 3,036 #110 5 #8,807
1985 2,811 #98 13 #3,512
1980 2,445 #127 13 #3,347
1975 2,358 #118 14 #2,832
1970 1,503 #209 8 #3,676
1965 798 #319 6 #3,720
1960 135 #910 – –
1955 83 #1,100 5 #4,134
1950 32 #1,664 – –
1945 19 #1,959 – –
1940 12 #2,492 – –
1935 8 #3,308 – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – 6 #3,628
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Kara

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Kara Lawson Kara Lawson American basketball player and coach (born 1981) Contemporary
  2. 2 Kara Hayward Kara Hayward American actress b. 1998 · Contemporary
  3. 3 Kara DioGuardi Kara DioGuardi American songwriter (born 1970) Contemporary
  4. 4 Kara Mustafa Pasha Kara Mustafa Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1676 to 1683 1634–1683 · 17th century
  5. 5 Kara Goucher Kara Goucher American long-distance runner b. 1978 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Kara Monaco Kara Monaco American model (born 1983) Contemporary
  7. 7 Kara Ahmed Pasha Kara Ahmed Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1553 to 1555 1450–1555 · Medieval
  8. 8 Kara Lynn Joyce American swimmer b. 1985 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Kara, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Kara?

The median living Kara is about 37 years old. Half of all living Karas are between 27 and 46 years old.

How many people named Kara are alive today?

An estimated 99 thousand people named Kara are alive in the United States, based on 102,025 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Kara mean?

Kara is both a given name and a surname with various, unrelated origins in various cultures.

How popular is the name Kara in 2025?

Kara ranked #1,075 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 226 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Kara?

102,025 babies have been named Kara in the United States since 1896, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Kara most popular?

Kara peaked in 1991, when 3,281 newborns received the name.

Is Kara a boy or girl name?

Kara is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Kara rising or falling?

Kara is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Kara become more popular?

Kara is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 147 girls named Kara in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Kara?

Well-known people named Kara include Kara Lawson (basketball player), Kara Hayward (actor), Kara DioGuardi (singer).

Names like Kara

Names that sound and feel close to Kara: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Kara with similar names → More names starting with K →