MEANING & HISTORY
What does Dara mean?
Dara has several independent origins. An Irish route represents Dáire, associated with oak-related naming.
Persian Dara belongs to the Darius name tradition, while Slavic Dara can shorten names involving dar, gift. These are distinct linguistic histories sharing the same letters. No one gloss should be applied to an unspecified bearer without knowing the relevant tradition.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
An Irish saint's name, from Irish Dáire.
A male given name from Irish.; A female given name from Irish.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Persian دارا (dārā), equivalent to Darius.
A male given name from Persian.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Slavic Dara / Cyr. Дара, derived from 'dar' / "дар" ('gift').
A female given name from Slavic.
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 Dara
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
Dara Sanchez
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: Dara Sanchez
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Dara 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 Dara
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
- Cara♀Beloved in Italian or friend in Irish
- Dana♂♀Surname-derived name; also short for Daniel
- Daria♀Feminine form of Darius
- Kara♂♀Cara-family form: beloved or friend
- Lara♀Russian familiar form of Larissa
- Mara♀Bitter in Hebrew, or a Maria/Tamara short form
- Sara♀Lady or princess
- Tara♀Irish place-name form; also Sanskrit star
What rhymes with Dara?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Dara further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q3480276 — Dara (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Dara Sanchez (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q3480276 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Dara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Dara (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.