Female name
Cara
6,460 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2001. Expression number: 5.
Origin
20th-century English coinage from Italian cara (“dear”) or Irish cara (“friend”).From Wiktionary, entry “Cara”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Cara?
Send them the page about their name.
How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2001: 324 births. 6,460 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. It is still given: 479 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1985: 1,472 births. 53,367 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given steadily, decade after decade, from the 1960s to the 2000s. It really came into use around 1913. It is still given: 984 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 2015: 185 births. 3,795 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. At its peak, it ranked 29th among girls' names in 2023. It really came into use around 1974. It is still given: 679 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 219 | 1984–2025 | — |
| Berlin | 84 | 2012–2023 | — |
Source: Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
5
freedom, change, movement
3 + 1 + 9 + 1 = 14 → 5
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
2
cooperation, sensitivity, connection
1 + 1 = 2
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
3
expression, creativity, sociability
3 + 9 = 12 → 3
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.