Kara is both a given name and a surname with various, unrelated origins in various cultures. As an English name, it is usually considered a modern spelling variant of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

endearment ''cara'', meaning '' beloved'', or the Irish word ''cara'', meaning ''

friend Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Although there are many forms of f ...

''. Neither Cara nor Kara has been in common use as a name in Italy or Ireland prior to the 20th century, though Kara had been in use as an independent name in the United States since at least the 1890s. It had occasionally been used as a

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

for the name Caroline. Actress Bernice Kamiat, who used the stage name Cara Williams, popularized that version of the name in the 1950s and 1960s. The DC Comics character

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

, whose original name was Kara Zor-El, debuted in 1959. Both Cara and Kara were used regularly in the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

and have been regarded as spelling variants of the same name. Kara became the more popular version of the name for American girls by 1967. Other media depictions of Supergirl have continued to draw attention to the name. 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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, was a

valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) 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 ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

; 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 al ...

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

Given name

* Kara Kennedy Allen (1960–2011), professional board member and a television producer * Kara Arslan (r. 1144–1174 CE), Turkic rulers * Kara Bajema (born 1998), American volleyball player * Kara Brock (born 1974), American actress * Kara Mahmud Bushati (1749–1796), noble of the Bushati family * Kara Cook, Australian politician * Kara Cooney, American Egyptologist, archaeologist, professor *

Kara Crane Kara Crane is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jeanette Pachelewski in the Disney Channel original film ''Minutemen (film), Minutemen''. Career Crane attended Orange County School of the Arts as a Music & Theatre major. Sh ...

(fl. 2006–present) American actress * Kara David (born 1973), Filipina broadcast journalist and television host * Kara DioGuardi (born 1970), American singer-songwriter * Kara Drew, known as Cherry (American wrestler) (born 1975), American professional wrestler, manager, and former WWE Diva * Kara Eaker (born 2002), American artistic gymnast *

Kara Edwards Kara Edwards (born February 17, 1977) is an American voice actress working for the English versions of Japanese anime. She is also well known in the Charlotte, North Carolina area for her past career as a radio host. Career Edwards began her b ...

(born 1977), American voice actress * Kara Fatma (1888–1955), Turkish heroine * Kara Goldin (born 1967/68), American businesswoman * Kara Goucher (born 1978), American long-distance runner * Kara Grainger, Australian soul blues and roots rock singer-songwriter *

Kara Hayward Kara Hayward (born November 17, 1998) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role as Suzy Bishop in the 2012 feature film ''Moonrise Kingdom'', which earned her a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in ...

(born 1998), American actress *

Kara Henderson Kara Henderson (born June 27, 1973) is an American sports media personality, most recently for the NFL Network. At NFLN, Henderson provided in-depth interviews, pregame and postgame reports and sideline reports for a variety of shows across the ne ...

(born 1973), American sports media personality * Kara Hultgreen (1965–1994), American aviator * Kara Karaev (1918–1982), Azerbaijani composer * Kara Jackson, American poet, singer, and songwriter *

Kara Kennedy Kara Anne Kennedy (February 27, 1960 – September 16, 2011) was a member of the Kennedy family. She was the oldest of the three children and only daughter of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts and Joan Bennett Kennedy, and a niece of ...

(1960–2011), American corporate director and television producer * Kara Killmer (born 1988), American actress * Kara Laricks, (born 1973) American fashion designer *

Kara Lawson Kara Marie Lawson (born February 14, 1981) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team. She played professionally in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a ...

(born 1981), American basketball coach and player * Kara Lindsay (born 1985), American theatre actress * Kara Lord (born 1988), Miss Guyana Universe 2011 * Kara Mbodj (born 1989), Senegalese footballer * Kara Monaco (born 1983), Playboy model * Kara Ahmed Pasha (died 1555), Ottoman statesman of Albanian origin *

Kara Mustafa Pasha Kara Mustafa Pasha (; ; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and Grand Vizier, who was a central character in the Ottoman Empire's last attempts at expansion into both Centr ...

(1634/5–1683), Ottoman military leader * Kara Neumann case, in which parents of a sick child treated her with only prayer, resulting in the child's death in 2008 * Kara Nova (active since 2011), American pole acrobat * Kara Yülük Osman, Turkish name of Qara Osman (before 1400–1435), Turkish ruler * Kara Ro (born 1975), Canadian boxer * Kara Robinson, American kidnap victim * Kara Ross (born 1966/1967), American jewelry designer *

Kara Saun Kara Saun is an American fashion and costume designer and the CEO of Kara Saun LLC, an LA-based fashion and costume design house. Saun appeared on Project Runway (season 1), season 1 and Project Runway (season 20), season 20, an All-star, all-st ...

* Kara Scott, Canadian British TV personality, journalist and poker player * Kara Stone (born 1989), Canadian video game designer * Kara Wagner Sherer, American Episcopal priest *

Kara Swisher Kara Anne Swisher ( ; born December 11, 1962) is an American journalist. She has covered the business of the internet since 1994. As of 2023, Swisher was a contributing editor at ''New York (magazine), New York Magazine'', the host of the podcast ...

(born 1962), American journalist * Kara Taitz (born 1981), American actress * Kára Temple (born 1991), American beauty queen * Kara Tointon (born 1983), English actress *

Kara Vallow Kara Vallow is an American television producer and animator. She has worked on four television series by Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions: ''Family Guy'', ''American Dad!'', ''The Cleveland Show'', and ''Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey''. Fu ...

, American television animation producer * Kara Wai (born 1960), Hong Kong actress *

Kara Walker Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, printmaker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores Race (classification of human beings), race, gender, human sexuality, sexual ...

(born 1969), contemporary African-American artist * Kara Wilson (born 1944), Scottish actress * Kara Winger (born 1986), American track and field athlete *

Kara Wolters Kara Elizabeth Wolters (born August 15, 1975) is an American former collegiate and professional basketball player and a current sports broadcaster. Standing at and nicknamed "Big Girl," she is the tallest player in University of Connecticut wome ...

(born 1975), American basketball player * Kara Zediker, American actress

Middle name

* Deborah Kara Unger (born 1966), Canadian actress

Surname

* Abir Kara (born 1983), Israeli businessman and politician * Anksa Kara (born 1985), Cameroonian-born actress * Ayoob Kara (born 1955), Druze Israeli politician * Aytaç Kara (born 1993), Turkish footballer * Burcu Kara (born 1980), Turkish actress * Danae Kara (born 1953), Greek classical concert pianist * Ercan Kara (born 1996), Austrian footballer * Fatma Kara (born 1991), Turkish footballer * Handan Kara (1939–2017), Turkish classical music singer * İlayda Cansu Kara (born 2005), Turkish footballer * Joseph Kara, also known as Mahari Kara, (c.1065 – c.1135), French Bible exegete * Kai Kara-France (born 1993), New Zealand mixed martial artist * Miriam Kara (born 1938), Israeli Olympic gymnast * Nader Kara (born 1980), Libyan footballer *

Patricia Kara Patricia Kara (Greek: Panayiota Karamouzis-Παναγιώτα Καραμούζη; born February 25, 1972) is an American model, TV personality and former actress. Career She began her career in Chicago, before moving to Miami, New York City, th ...

(born 1972), American entertainer * Princess Kara (born 2000), Nigerian discus thrower *

Rasim Kara Rasim Kara (born 10 June 1950) is a Turkish former football player and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Bursaspor, Beşiktaş and the Turkey national team. Playing career Born in Eskişehir, Kara began playing as a goalkeeper with the yout ...

(born 1950), Turkish footballer * Theodore Kara (1916–1944), American featherweight boxer * Sergey Kara-Murza (born 1939), Russian chemist, historian, political philosopher and sociologist * Vladimir Kara-Murza (born 1981), Russian politician * Vladimir Kara-Murza Sr. (1959–2019), Russian journalist and TV host * Anel Karabeg (born 1962), Bosnian footballer * Osman Karabegović (1911-1996), Bosnian politician

Mythical or fictional characters

* Kára, a valkyrie in Norse mythology *

's original Kryptonian name in the comics is Kara Zor-El, and in some of the more recent adaptations of the character she uses "Kara" in her civilian life as well: ** On the ''Smallville'' TV series she was Kara Kent. ** On '' Superman: The Animated Series'' she's not Kryptonian but is still named Kara (In-Ze). ** Her comic-book alternate-universe counterpart from Earth-2,

Power Girl Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L, Karen Starr, and Paige Stetler, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics, making her first appearance in ''All Star Comics'' #58 (January/February 1976).''Who's Who in the DC Unive ...

, is Kara Zor-L. ** On the CW ''Supergirl'' series her civilian name is

Kara Danvers Kara Danvers, also known as Kara Zor-El on her homeworld, is a fictional character in the Arrowverse franchise, mainly the television series Supergirl (TV series), ''Supergirl''. Adapted for television by Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew Kre ...

. * Kara H. Dela Rosa-Acosta, a character from the Filipino drama series ''

Doble Kara ''Doble Kara'' () is a Philippine television drama series broadcast by ABS-CBN. Directed by Emmanuel Q. Palo, Jon S. Villarin, Erick C. Salud, Trina N. Dayrit and Jojo A. Saguin, it stars Julia Montes, Carmina Villarroel, Mylene Dizon, Ariel ...

'' * Kara Ben Nemsi, in the works of German writer Karl May * Kara Milovy, Bond girl from The Living Daylights *

Kara Thrace Kara Thrace ( callsign "Starbuck") is a fictional character in the reimagined 2004 '' Battlestar Galactica'' series. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 '' Battlestar Galactica'' series. She ...

, in the reimagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' franchise * Kara, the Jungle Princess, an Exciting Comics character * Kara Cupper, a child character in '' Shining Time Station'' * Kara, one of the three android protagonists of the videogame '' Detroit: Become Human'' * Kara, a character

Susan Strong The second season of ''Adventure Time'', an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward, premiered on Cartoon Network on October 11, 2010, and concluded on May 2, 2011, and was produced by Frederator Studios and Cartoon Netwo ...

's real name in the ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

References

{{given name, type=both English feminine given names Feminine given names

Given name

Middle name

Surname

Mythical or fictional characters

See also

References