Recorded 1896–2025 · United States
Kara was most popular in 1991, when 3,281 American babies were given the name — ranking #214 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,040, with 226 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 102,025 people named Kara.
Kara first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1896, which makes it about 129 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 99 of the 130 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 102,025 American births named Kara between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 98,640 are estimated to be alive today.
226 American babies were named Kara in 2025, ranking #2,040 that year.
Kara is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 292 births a year, against 797 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -63% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Kara is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 102,025 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 98,640 Americans named Kara are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 38 years old, and half are between 28 and 47.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kara on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org