Cara is a female given name in several languages. It is of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and Celtic origin. It has been frequently used mostly in recent times, especially in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. and can also be used as a short form for the name Caralee. Cara is an Irish feminine given name meaning "friend". It is also an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 8 ...

feminine given name from the

meaning “darling, beloved, dear, loved one”. It is also a Danish, Norwegian and Swedish feminine given name that is an alternate form of Kara as well as a short form of

Carola Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol. People named Carola include: Acting * Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress *Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actre ...

Carolina Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in ...

, and Oscara. Cara means beloved in Latin and the names Carina,

Cherie Cherie is an English female given name. It comes from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'', ''to cherish''). Notable people with the name or stage name include: * Cherie, one of the stage ...

and

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

derive from it. Cara also means friend in Irish language Kara, the alternative spelling, is from the Cornish word , meaning ''love''. This is likely cognate to the popular Welsh girls' name

Carys Carys is a Welsh feminine given name, formed from the stem of the Welsh vocabulary word '' caru'', "to love" (''cf.'' third person '' câr'' "beloved friend" or "precious"), and the suffix ''-ys'', found in such names as ''Dilys'', '' Gladys ...

. The name is also that of an island in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...

island group,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

; Cara Island lying just off the southern tip of the

Isle of Gigha Gigha (; gd, Giogha, italic=yes; sco, Gigha) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is m ...

. In

Egyptian language The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts which were made accessible to the modern world following the deciphe ...

, the term can be translated as "the spirit of Ra". In

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, the word means "dark", which may or may not be related to the Gaelic Ciara of the same meaning. In

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, the name means "pure", and is related to the names Katharina,

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, and Katrina. In Ancient (and sometimes in modern) Greek language, ''Kara'' means ''Head''. In Japan, the word means "empty", and is the basis of the name of the

Karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

martial art. In

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

, was a

valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36 ...

; in the

Scandinavian languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

, the name either means "the wild, stormy one" (based on Old Norse , meaning "wild") or "curl" or "the curly one" (from Old Norse ). In

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, refers to a diamond size unit (translated from carat); in

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

means "to increase or complain".

People named Cara

Cara Judea Alhadeff Cara Judea Alhadeff (born April 8, 1971) is an American photographer, performance artist, writer, activist, and yoga teacher. She has work in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Her photographs have been called ...

, artist, writer, and yoga teacher *

Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...

, professional tennis player *

Cara Black (author) Cara Black (born November 14, 1951) is a bestselling American mystery writer. She is best known for her ''Aimée Leduc'' mystery novels featuring a female Paris-based private investigator. Black is included in the ''Great Women Mystery Writers'' ...

, American mystery writer * Cara Blue Adams, American author * Cara Buono, American actress *

Cara Butler Cara Butler is an American stepdancer and choreographer. She is the younger sister of dancer Jean Butler. Dance career Cara Butler studied with the widely respected Irish stepdance teacher Donny Golden. She and her sister, Jean, each won nume ...

, Irish American stepdancer and choreographer * Cara Capuano, sports anchor for ESPNU * Cara Carriveau (born 1966), Chicago radio personality *

Cara Delevingne Cara Jocelyn Delevingne ( ; born 12 August 1992) is an English model and actress. She signed with Storm Management after leaving school in 2009. Delevingne won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2012 and 2014. Delevingne sta ...

(born 1992), fashion model and actress * Cara DeLizia (born 1984), American television actress *

Cara Dillon Cara Elizabeth Dillon (born 21 July 1975, in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving ...

, Irish folk singer * Cara Duff-MacCormick, Canadian actress * Cara Dunne-Yates (1970–2004), American scholar-athlete * Cara Gee (b. 1982) Ojibwe; Canadian actress *

Cara Gorges The Miss Kansas USA pageant is a competition that selects the representative for the state of Kansas in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1992, the state joined the Va ...

(born 1987), beauty queen from Clearwater, Kansas * Cara Heads (born 1977), American Olympic weightlifter * Cara Hilton, Scottish Labour Party politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament *

Cara Hoffman Cara Hoffman is an American novelist, essayist, and journalist. She is a founding editor of ''The Anarchist Review of Books'' and the author of three critically acclaimed novels, ''So Much Pretty'' (2011), ''Be Safe, I Love You'' (2014), and ''Ru ...

, New York City-based novelist and journalist *

Cara Horgan Cara Horgan (born 5 October 1984) is an English actress who has appeared on stage, on television, and in films. Career Horgan has appeared in several television productions including ''Peep Show'', ''Traitors'', ''The Rotter's Club'', '' Geniu ...

, English actress * Cara Jones, singer, songwriter, and a voice actor * Cara Knott (1966–1986), American murder victim * Cara Lockwood, American novelist * Cara Lott,

Adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of ...

actress * Cara Luft, musician *

Cara Pifko Cara Pifko (born March 15, 1976) is a Canadian actress known primarily for her work on television shows produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Life and career Pifko was born in Toronto, Ontario. A graduate of the National Theatre Sch ...

(born 1976), Canadian actress *

Cara Quici Cara Elizabeth Quici (born May 30, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is living in New York City and Los Angeles now. Early life Quici began singing church hymns at the age of ...

(born 1985), American singer/songwriter * Cara Readle (born 1991), Welsh actress *

Cara Seymour Cara Seymour (born 6 January 1964) is a British actress from Essex, England. She has appeared in films such as ''You've Got Mail'', ''American Psycho'', '' Adaptation'', ''Dancer in the Dark'', ''Gangs of New York'', ''Hotel Rwanda'', '' The S ...

(born 1964), English actress *

Cara Theobold Cara Louise Theobold (born 8 January 1990) is an English actress who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her first acting role was Ivy Stuart in the third and fourth series of television period drama ''Downton Abbey'' and is also ...

(born 1990), English actress * Cara Tivey, English pianist/keyboardist and vocalist * Cara Wakelin, Canadian model and actress *

Cara Williams Cara Williams (born Bernice Kamiat; June 29, 1925 – December 9, 2021) was an American film and television actress. She was best known for her role as Billy's Mother in ''The Defiant Ones'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy A ...

(born 1925), American film and television actress * Cara Zavaleta, model and reality show guest

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cara (Given Name) Feminine given names English feminine given names