MEANING & HISTORY
What does Cara mean?
Cara has two transparent word-name accounts: Italian cara, beloved, and Irish cara, friend. These are distinct language sources that happen to share the Latin-letter spelling.
The name has an established modern personal-name history rather than one compulsory longer form. Its affectionate meaning can be explained precisely through the relevant word, while an individual family’s intended language remains important. The Italian and Irish readings should not be collapsed into an invented compound meaning beloved friend.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
20th-century English coinage from Italian cara (“dear”) or Irish cara (“friend”).
A female given name originating as a coinage.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Cara
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Cara Barredo
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
1
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Cara Barredo
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Cara in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Cara
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Caria♀Short form of Macaria; blessed-name tradition
- Carl♂Man or freeman
- Carla♀Feminine form of Carl or Karl
- Cary♂Variant of Carey, from Irish Ó Ciardha
- Ciara♀Irish feminine form of Ciar; dark
- Clara♀Clear, bright, or famous
- Dara♂♀Irish, Persian and Slavic name traditions
- Kara♂♀Cara-family form: beloved or friend
What rhymes with Cara?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Cara further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q1035258 — Cara (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Cara Barredo (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1035258 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Cara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Cara (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.