Carah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly relating to the English word "cara" meaning "dear".
Name Census estimates that about 850 living Americans carry the first name Carah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carah today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carah births was 2000 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Carah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
850
~ 1 in 403,240 Americans
Peak year
2000
39 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2020 SSA rank
#15,571
Tracked since 1969
Census
Carah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 809 people with the first name Carah, which placed it at #14,548 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,548
National first-name rank
People counted
809
809 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carah is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Hispanic (8.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Carah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Carah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 592
- Black or African American8.3% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 67
- Two or more races5.7% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
Popularity
Carah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carah from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 261 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Carah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carah
The name Carah originated from the Hebrew language and culture, emerging during the ancient times of the Old Testament period. It is derived from the Hebrew word "qara," which means "to call" or "to summon." The name Carah was primarily used within the Jewish community, often carrying a spiritual connotation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carah can be found in the Book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as the name of Abraham's concubine, who bore him a son named Ishmael. This biblical reference dates back to around the 18th century BCE, indicating the antiquity of the name's usage.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Carah. One such figure was Carah bat Nachshon, a prominent Jewish scholar and teacher who lived in the 2nd century CE. She was renowned for her extensive knowledge of Jewish law and her contributions to the study of the Talmud.
Another historical figure with the name Carah was Carah bat Beruria, a 2nd-century CE Jewish woman celebrated for her wisdom and keen intellect. She was the daughter of the renowned scholar Rabbi Meir and is mentioned in the Talmud for her insightful teachings and her role in preserving Jewish traditions.
In the 10th century CE, Carah bat Yitzhak was a notable Jewish poet and scholar from Speyer, Germany. Her poetic works, which often explored themes of faith and spirituality, were highly regarded during her time and have been preserved in various anthologies.
During the 12th century, Carah bat Meshullam was a distinguished Jewish scholar and writer from Provence, France. She was recognized for her expertise in biblical exegesis and her contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism, particularly within the Kabbalistic tradition.
In the 16th century, Carah Shamah was a prominent Jewish businesswoman and philanthropist from Istanbul, Ottoman Empire. She played a significant role in supporting the local Jewish community and was renowned for her generosity and commitment to charitable causes.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Carah, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and the diverse contexts in which it was used across different eras and regions.
People
Carah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 850 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 403,240 US residents.
Is Carah a common name?
We classify Carah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 876 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carah most popular?
The single biggest year for Carah was 2000, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carah is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 809 people with the name Carah, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,548 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Carah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Carah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carah appears almost entirely female. Of the 813 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Carah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carah is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Hispanic (8.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Carah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Carah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (592 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Carah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Carah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Carah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Carah?
You can see how many people share the name Carah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.