Kara Name Meaning & Origin
Kara
Origin of the name Kara:
Derived from the Italian cara (beloved, dear), which is from the Latin carus (beloved, dear).
From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.
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US Popularity of Kara Over Time

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- Comments and insights on the name Kara
Irish - Sweet melody
Greek - One who is pure
Italian - Precious one, beloved one, Cherished One
Afrikaans - Sweet love- Personal experiences with the name Kara
*Kara-lea is the name of my 16 year old, still love the name, she just goes by Kara but her friends call her Kaz.
*My name is Kara, I'm 15 in 2017, born in 2002. I live in the UK. I don't know anyone called Kara at all. There is a girl 2 years above me who is Cara, with a C. Cara is definitely more common where I live rather than Kara, however I only personally know of one other than the girl above. I shorten my name to Kaz. In my experience, I love my name and I love the nicknames for it too. I definitely think Kara is better than Cara but that's just me. Many people who I've just met or teachers will spell it Cara which leads me to believe it is more common. The pronunciation is usually correct, 'Car-ruh', however I get the occasional 'Key-err-ah' which is wrong and I don't know how that is possible but It's funny. Overall I love it and think its a great name for someone.
My little sister is named Kara (pronounced Care-Uh), my older sister is named Ashton and my name is Kalen (yes, I’m a girl as well). It’s usually pronounced correctly, but I notice that people from Australia and the northern part of the US pronounce it Car-uh.
**My name is Kara-prononced Care-uh. I live in Texas and I grew up 3 other girls in my graduating class with the same name only one was spelled with a C instead. It was weird as none of us knew each other until high school. I have come across a few others randomly so I thought it was becoming more common. Still can’t find my name in the souvenir section though.
- Nicknames for Kara
Kare-bear, Kara-beara, Ker, Kara-boo, Kar, Kat, Karzza, Karla, KaKa, Kaz, Kae, Kay, Kas, Kai, Karly/Karli
- Meanings and history of the name Kara
Sometimes considered a derivative of Katherine, Greek in origin, meaning "pure." Also means "empty" in Japanese such as in karate 'empty hand' and karaoke 'empty orchestra'.
- Famous real-life people named Kara
Kara DioGuardi
Kara Swisher- Kara in song, story & screen
Kara Thrace--a pilot whose call sign is Starbuck, one of the main characters in the 2004-2009 scifi show "Battlestar Galactica"
Kara, Supergirl's Kryptonian name (DC Comics)
Kara, one the three main android characters in the video game "Detroit: Become Human"