Kara
Of Turkish origin meaning "black", "dark-colored" or "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 95,659 living Americans carry the first name Kara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kara today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kara births was 1991 (3,280 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kara. 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 Kara with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kara is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 282 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
96K
~ 1 in 3,583 Americans
Peak year
1991
3,280 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2004 SSA rank
#988
Tracked since 1896
Census
Kara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 93,454 people with the first name Kara, which placed it at #571 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
#571
National first-name rank
People counted
93K
93,454 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
30.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kara is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Kara 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 Kara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 80,118
- Two or more races4.0% · 3,760
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 3,389
- Black or African American3.5% · 3,290
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 2,259
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 638
Gender
Gender distribution for Kara
Out of the 101,796 babies given the name Kara 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.
Kara as a male name
- Ranked #8,536 in 2004
- 8 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1983 (17 births)
Kara as a female name
- Ranked #988 in 2024
- 261 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (3,280 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kara appears almost entirely female. Of the 93,447 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kara from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 27,630 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kara 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 Kara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kara, while Delaware, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,948 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kara
The name Kara has its origins in various languages and cultures around the world. In Turkish, it means "black" or "dark-colored" and is derived from the Turkish word "kara." It has been a popular name in Turkey for centuries.
In Sanskrit, the name Kara means "rays of light" or "sun rays." It is also a variant of the name Kiran, which has a similar meaning. The name has been used in India since ancient times and is found in Hindu scriptures and texts.
In Greek, the name Kara is a variant of the name Chara, which means "joy" or "delight." It has been used in Greece since antiquity and has been passed down through generations.
In Armenian, the name Kara means "beloved" or "dear one." It has been a popular name among Armenians for many centuries and is found in various historical records and documents.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Kara was in ancient Greece. Kara was the name of a female warrior who fought alongside the Amazons, as mentioned in Greek mythology.
In the 6th century, a Frankish queen named Kara was married to Clotaire I, the king of the Franks. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the Merovingian dynasty.
During the Middle Ages, Kara was the name of a Russian princess who lived in the 12th century. She was known for her beauty and intelligence and was married to a prominent nobleman.
In the 16th century, Kara Mustafa was a notable Ottoman grand vizier who served under Sultan Mehmed IV. He was known for his military campaigns and political strategies.
In the 19th century, Kara Karalina was a Bulgarian revolutionary and feminist who fought for women's rights and Bulgarian independence. She was a prominent figure in the Bulgarian National Revival movement.
People
Kara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 95,659 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kara 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 3,583 US residents.
Is Kara a common name?
We classify Kara as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 101,796 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kara most popular?
The single biggest year for Kara was 1991, when 3,280 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kara is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 93,454 people with the name Kara, or 30.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #571 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 Kara 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 Kara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kara appears almost entirely female. Of the 93,447 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 Kara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kara is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Kara most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (80,118 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 Kara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kara a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Kara 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 Kara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kara 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 Kara 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 Americans are named Kara?
See how many Americans are named Kara on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.