How popular is the baby name Cara in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Cara.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Cara


Posts that mention the name Cara

What gave the baby name Cara a boost in 1965?

The character Cara Bridges/Wilton from the TV series "The Cara Williams Show" (1964-1965)
Cara from “The Cara Williams Show“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Cara saw a spike in usage in 1965:

  • 1967: 604 baby girls named Cara [rank: 366th]
  • 1966: 677 baby girls named Cara [rank: 347th]
  • 1965: 987 baby girls named Cara [rank: 274th]
  • 1964: 663 baby girls named Cara [rank: 366th]
  • 1963: 682 baby girls named Cara [rank: 368th]

What caused the brief increase?

The 1965 pop song “Cara Mia” could be a secondary influence here, but I think the main influence was a single-season sitcom called The Cara Williams Show, which aired from 1964 to 1965 (30 episodes) on CBS.

The star of the show was actress Cara Williams, who played a scatterbrained character also named Cara. Fictional Cara went by two different surnames: Bridges (her married name) at home, and Wilton (her maiden name) at work. Why? Because she and her husband Frank (played by actor Frank Aletter) were co-workers at a company that forbade the employment of married couples. They therefore went to great lengths to conceal their marriage from their boss.

Cara Williams — a “perky redhead” often compared to Lucille Ball — was born Bernice Kamiat in New York City in 1925.

What are your thoughts on the name Cara?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Cara Williams Show

Popular baby names in Northern Ireland (UK), 2024

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Last year, Northern Ireland — one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom — welcomed more than 19,400 babies.

What were the most popular baby names among these babies? Grace and James.

Here are Northern Ireland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Grace, 125 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 109
  3. Fiadh, 104
  4. Aoife, 97
  5. Emily, 96
  6. Charlotte, 95 (tie)
  7. Lily, 95 (tie)
  8. Isla, 91 (tie)
  9. Sophia, 91 (tie)
  10. Freya, 90
  11. Annie, 89
  12. Ella, 85
  13. Eabha, 80
  14. Amelia, 74 (tie)
  15. Sophie, 74 (tie)
  16. Evie, 73
  17. Meabh, 71
  18. Ellie, 69
  19. Anna, 65
  20. Clodagh, 61 (tie)
  21. Mia, 61 (tie)
  22. Aria, 59 (3-way tie)
  23. Maisie, 59 (3-way tie)
  24. Rosie, 59 (3-way tie)
  25. Erin, 58
  26. Croia, 55
  27. Elsie, 54
  28. Bonnie, 53 (tie)
  29. Molly, 53 (tie)
  30. Phoebe, 52 (tie)
  31. Sienna, 52 (tie)
  32. Ava, 51
  33. Cara, 50 (tie)
  34. Daisy, 50 (tie)
  35. Ivy, 49
  36. Clara, 47
  37. Saoirse, 46
  38. Lucy, 45 (tie)
  39. Ruby, 45 (tie)
  40. Cora, 44
  41. Rose, 43
  42. Eva, 42 (tie)
  43. Sadie, 42 (tie)
  44. Isabella, 39 (3-way tie)
  45. Nora, 39 (3-way tie)
  46. Willow, 39 (3-way tie)
  47. Ada, 37 (5-way tie)
  48. Katie, 37 (5-way tie)
  49. Maya, 37 (5-way tie)
  50. Niamh, 37 (5-way tie)
  51. Poppy, 37 (5-way tie)

Boy names

  1. James, 143 baby boys
  2. Cillian, 142
  3. Noah, 139
  4. Jack, 130
  5. Theo, 125
  6. Jude, 124
  7. Luca, 109
  8. Charlie, 106
  9. Oisin, 105
  10. Oliver, 104
  11. Thomas, 96
  12. Leo, 94
  13. Harry, 89 (tie)
  14. Jacob, 89 (tie)
  15. Finn, 84
  16. Arthur, 83
  17. Alfie, 82 (3-way tie)
  18. Daithi, 82 (3-way tie)
  19. Freddie, 82 (3-way tie)
  20. Archie, 77 (tie)
  21. Tommy, 77 (tie)
  22. Rian, 67
  23. Ollie, 65
  24. Conan, 62
  25. Ronan, 61
  26. Caleb, 60 (4-way tie)
  27. Fionn, 60 (4-way tie)
  28. Isaac, 60 (4-way tie)
  29. Patrick, 60 (4-way tie)
  30. Lucas, 57 (tie)
  31. Max, 57 (tie)
  32. Theodore, 55
  33. Rory, 54
  34. Joseph, 53 (3-way tie)
  35. Oscar, 53 (3-way tie)
  36. Reuben, 53 (3-way tie)
  37. Daniel, 52
  38. Adam, 51 (tie)
  39. Alexander, 51 (tie)
  40. George, 50 (tie)
  41. Odhran, 50 (tie)
  42. Ezra, 49 (3-way tie)
  43. Liam, 49 (3-way tie)
  44. Matthew, 49 (3-way tie)
  45. Arlo, 48 (3-way tie)
  46. Cian, 48 (3-way tie)
  47. Henry, 48 (3-way tie)
  48. Daire, 47 (3-way tie)
  49. Jonah, 47 (3-way tie)
  50. Sean, 47 (3-way tie)

Grace and James were also the #1 names in 2022, but both dipped to third place in 2023.

The highest climbers within the girls’ top 100 in 2024 were Maya, Maria, Eliza, and Ayla.

And the highest climbers within the boys’ top 100 were Austin, Rossa, Callum, and Joseph.

Finally, here’s a small selection of the names that were given to just three babies each last year:

  • Rare girl names: Aodhla, Cuisle, Doireann, Etain, Neala, Orlagh, Tierna
  • Rare boy names: Ainle, Con, Dualtagh, Eamon, Feilim, Lir, Oilibhear

Cuisle, the Irish word for “pulse,” is thematically similar to the trendy girl name Croia, which is based on croí, the Irish word for “heart.” Croia currently ranks 26th and 16th in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, respectively.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Popular baby names in Gibraltar, 2024

Flag of Gibraltar
Flag of Gibraltar

Last year, the British overseas territory of Gibraltar welcomed 331 babies — 148 baby girls and 183 baby boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia for girls and Noah/Thomas (tie) for boys.

Here are Gibraltar’s top girl names and top boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 5 baby girls
  2. Emilia, 4
  3. Matilda and Zara, 3 each (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah and Thomas, 5 baby boys each (tie)
  2. Luca and Sebastian, 4 each (tie)
  3. Leon, Liam, Oliver, Ryan, Theo, and Tommy, 3 each (6-way tie)

The name Jamie was also given to three babies, but my source didn’t include much information on gender, so I don’t know if these three babies were boys, girls, or a mix of both.

The 36 names given to two babies each were Addison, Alexander, Annabelle, Arabella, Ariana, Axel, Celine, Charles, Emily, Emma, Enzo, Evan, George, Hugo, Jacob, Jesse, Julia, Kai, Kylian, Leo, Lucia, Luna, Maisie, Mia, Michael, Mila, Nicolas, Riley, Robyn, Romeo, Romy, Salma, Sofia, Stella, Thiago, and Zack.

And the 200+ names bestowed just once in Gibraltar last year were…

Adah, Adam, Adonis, Aiden, Aidon, Ajay, Alba, Albert, Aleia, Alesia, Alessandro, Alice, Alistair, Amara, Amber, Amelia, Amina, Amine, Amoura, Ana, Anas, Anaya, Andrew, Antonio, Archie, Aria, Arianna, Arley, Arlo, Arthur, Ava, Aya, Ayla, Azaria, Bella, Billy, Blake, Bodhi, Brenda, Caleb, Callie, Camden, Cara, Catharine, Cecilia, Charlie, Charlotte, Christian, Cleo, Connor, Cora, Danah, Daniella, Darcie, Darcy, Delilah, Duyna, Dylan, Edward, Eladio, Elena, Elia, Elian, Elias, Ella, Elliot, Ellis, Elowyn, Elton, Eric, Esmae, Esteban, Everleigh, Evie, Ezra, Frankie, Freya, Furkan, Gabriella, Geremiah, Gia, Gigi, Giorgia, Giorgio, Grace, Gracie, Hadley, Halo, Hannah, Haroun, Harper, Harry, Haven, Henry, Hudson, Ian, Inaaya, Inaya, Isabella, Isadora, Isla, Islam, Ivy, Jack, Jae, Jake, James, Jason, Javier, Jax, Jay, Jaylan, Joylisa, Jude, Jules, Kaine, Kallie, Katie, Kenzie, Kenzo, Khylo, Koby, Kody, Lara, Laurie, Lee, Lewis, Lilliana, Liya, Lorena, Louis, Luciano, Luke, Maeve, Manxin, Marcel, Martin, Mason, Matthew, Max, Milan, Millie, Mollie, Moshe, Mya, Myla, Naia, Naiomi, Naira, Nariah, Nellie, Niall, Nicola, Nylah, Osayd, Peter, Posie, Rachel, Rafaella, Ralfs, Ramy, Rayan, Reign, Reuven, Rian, Rina, Rio, Roan, Robbie, Robert, Roman, Rosa, Rose, Rotem, Ruairi, Ruben, Ruhe, Rupert, Sarah, Scarlett, Sean, Seth, Shashana, Shivika, Sophia, Sophie, Spencer, Sunny, Sykes, Talia, Tassim, Theodore, Tiana, Timothy, Tobias, Tristan, Tyler, Valentina, Victor, Yaakov, Zachary, Zayd, Zoe, Zyna, Zyon

Finally, here are Gibraltar’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Source: “Thomas, Noah & Olivia the most popular baby names in 2024.” GBC News 25 Mar. 2025.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Gibraltar (public domain)

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2024

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

The top baby names in the Republic of Ireland last year were Sophie and Jack.

Here are Ireland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Sophie, 294 baby girls
  2. Éabha, 293
  3. Grace, 291
  4. Emily, 290
  5. Fiadh, 286
  6. Lily, 253
  7. Olivia, 246
  8. Amelia, 220
  9. Sadie, 216
  10. Mia, 213
  11. Lucy, 204
  12. Freya, 196
  13. Isla, 193
  14. Ella, 192
  15. Ellie, 190
  16. Croía, 188
  17. Emma, 187 (tie)
  18. Maya, 187 (tie)
  19. Sophia, 180
  20. Chloe, 179 (tie)
  21. Hannah, 179 (tie)
  22. Molly, 171
  23. Evie, 167
  24. Saoirse, 164
  25. Sofia, 154
  26. Ava, 152
  27. Robyn, 148
  28. Millie, 145
  29. Anna, 140
  30. Ruby, 134
  31. Caoimhe, 131 (tie)
  32. Rosie, 131 (tie)
  33. Róisín, 126
  34. Bonnie, 123
  35. Erin, 120 (tie)
  36. Isabelle, 120 (tie)
  37. Cara, 118
  38. Sadhbh, 117
  39. Holly, 115
  40. Éala, 114
  41. Annie, 112
  42. Clodagh, 109 (tie)
  43. Daisy, 109 (tie)
  44. Hazel, 108
  45. Aoife, 107 (tie)
  46. Katie, 107 (tie)
  47. Kate, 106 (tie)
  48. Willow, 106 (tie)
  49. Maisie, 105
  50. Ada, 104 (tie)
  51. Méabh, 104 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Jack, 490 baby boys
  2. Noah, 486
  3. Rían, 432
  4. Cillian, 352
  5. James, 336
  6. Tadhg, 318
  7. Fionn, 304
  8. Liam, 303
  9. Oisín, 286
  10. Charlie, 258
  11. Daniel, 257
  12. Finn, 255
  13. Theo, 252
  14. Thomas, 226
  15. Seán, 222
  16. Patrick, 220
  17. Michael, 218
  18. Luke, 217
  19. Conor, 210
  20. Harry, 209
  21. Tommy, 202
  22. Leo, 201 (tie)
  23. Páidí, 201 (tie)
  24. Luca, 197
  25. Adam, 188
  26. Darragh, 184
  27. Oliver, 181
  28. Bobby, 179
  29. John, 168
  30. Jamie, 162 (tie)
  31. Kai, 162 (tie)
  32. Oscar, 159
  33. Cian, 158 (tie)
  34. Max, 158 (tie)
  35. Ollie, 157
  36. Alex, 155
  37. Callum, 154
  38. Sonny, 147
  39. Dylan, 141
  40. David, 134
  41. Ben, 132
  42. Matthew, 131
  43. Caelan, 128
  44. Alexander, 127
  45. Muhammad, 126
  46. Ryan, 124
  47. Arthur, 119
  48. Arlo, 118
  49. Alfie, 117
  50. Shay, 107

The trendy name Croía (pronounced KREE-a) rose from 95th in 2020, to 52nd in 2021, to 38th in 2022, to 24th in 2023, to 16th last year. Do you think it will reach the top 10 in 2025?

Speaking of names on the upswing, the fastest-rising girl names in the top 100 were Maya (in terms of number of babies) and Rhea (in terms of rank). Likewise, the fastest-rising boy names in the top 100 were Rían (in terms of number of babies) and Caleb (in terms of rank).

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the names given to just 3 babies each in Ireland last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Annalivia, Brídín, Ceoladh, Dolcie, Elira, Fearne, Goldie, Heather, Iveagh, Jessa, Kenza, Líobhan, Morrigan, Nollaig, Oonagh, Peach, Réalta, Saffi, Tiffany, Vega, Willa, ZariaAhan, Bento, Chulainn, Daróg, Enda, Fearghal, Gene, Hughie, Íarlaith, Jameson, Keelin, Laith, Mick, Naomhán, Oilibhéar, Pat, Ralphie, Séadh, Téidí, Vlad, Willie, Zeke

The Irish word réalta means “star.”

Source: Irish Babies’ Names – CSO (Irish Babies’ Names 2024)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)