Cora
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "kore," meaning maiden or young girl.
Name Census estimates that about 70,177 living Americans carry the first name Cora. It sits at #102 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cora today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cora births was 2019 (3,601 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cora. 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 Cora with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Cora is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 387 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
70K
~ 1 in 4,884 Americans
Peak year
2019
3,601 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2015 SSA rank
#102
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 58,912 people with the first name Cora, which placed it at #809 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
#809
National first-name rank
People counted
59K
58,912 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
19.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cora is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Cora 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 Cora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.8% · 42,894
- Black or African American12.9% · 7,599
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 3,593
- Two or more races5.2% · 3,087
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 1,288
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 451
Gender
Gender distribution for Cora
Out of the 153,964 babies given the name Cora since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Cora as a male name
- Ranked #10,941 in 2015
- 6 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1917 (17 births)
Cora as a female name
- Ranked #102 in 2024
- 2,570 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (3,601 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cora appears almost entirely female. Of the 58,912 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Cora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cora from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 27,824 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cora remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cora 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 Cora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, California recorded the most babies named Cora, while Wyoming, Delaware, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,242 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cora
The name Cora originated from the Greek word "Kore," which means "maiden" or "young girl." It was initially a title given to the Greek goddess Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility. The name became popular during the Hellenistic period, spanning from the 4th to the 1st century BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, Persephone, also known as Kore, was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. This event was a central part of the myth surrounding the changing seasons and the annual cycle of growth and decay in nature. The name Cora symbolized youth, innocence, and the cycle of rebirth.
During the Renaissance period, the name Cora gained popularity in Europe, particularly in Italy, where it was often associated with the arts and literature. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Cora can be found in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, written in the early 14th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cora. One of the earliest examples is Cora Pearl (1835-1886), a renowned French courtesan and mistress to several wealthy and influential men in 19th-century Paris. Another famous Cora was Cora Wilburn (1888-1958), an American novelist and poet who wrote about the lives of African Americans in the early 20th century.
In the realm of classical music, Cora Smyth (1854-1923) was a British composer and pianist who wrote works for orchestra and chamber ensembles. Additionally, Cora Anderson (1892-1981) was an American opera singer known for her performances in the United States and Europe during the early 20th century.
Cora Coralina (1889-1985), born Anita Philipa Lemos, was a renowned Brazilian poet and author who celebrated the culture and traditions of her home state, Goiás. Her works portrayed the daily lives and struggles of ordinary people, earning her widespread recognition and acclaim in Brazil.
While the name Cora has ancient roots and a rich history, it has maintained its charm and appeal throughout the ages, continuing to be a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a connection to mythology and a sense of timeless beauty.
People
Cora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cora 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
Cora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 70,177 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cora 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 4,884 US residents.
Is Cora a common name?
We classify Cora as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 153,964 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cora most popular?
The single biggest year for Cora was 2019, when 3,601 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cora is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 58,912 people with the name Cora, or 19.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #809 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 Cora 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 Cora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cora appears almost entirely female. Of the 58,912 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Cora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cora is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Cora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.8% (42,894 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 Cora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cora a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Cora 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 Cora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cora 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 Cora 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 common is the name Cora?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Cora at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.