Cara

I truly adore the name Cara. It has an elegant charm to it, yet still feels young and alive. When I hear the name Cara, I imagine a young and energetic person, with lots of joy in her life. I definitely would consider naming my daughter Cara, or nicknaming her Cara if I named her Caroline or Clara.

According to these comments this name means friend in Irish, punishment in Polish, face in Spanish. Please don't punish my face Cara my friend.

…Cara is the exact word for “face” in Spanish. “Tienes algo en tu Cara.” English: “You have something on your face/Cara.”

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Maybe Catalina or Caralina if your child is Latino/Hispanic.

The best pronunciation for me is CAR-ah. CARE-uh is just so ugly. Otherwise, it’s a sweet and memorable name.

Despite being pronounced differently, it also means "way(s)" (noun) in my native language. In that case, it's pronounced Tsah-rah. "Ts" is pronounced like a soft CH as in "CHeek". I won't name my daughter Cara because of what I said.

Decent name.

This name is just so sweet, I love it!

It’s so pretty! Also, it has the same meaning as my name. :)

Very pretty!

I've always loved this beautiful name. It's soft, feminine, and has a lovely meaning. I hope to name my future daughter Cara one day.

Why would you name your child after a car?

Sweet name that means Beloved. I like it a lot.

I know a girl who pronounces it "Care-uh" I love it pronounced like that best.

Very pretty!

This is my oldest’s name and I love it! Cara Brynn. We know one adult Cara, that’s it! Wonderful name!

I like this name. It's nice and simple.

Short and pretty!

I love this name! It is a variant of Carol or Caroline. Or an Irish name meaning beloved. I made up a character named Cara. I can’t stand when people spell it with a K! I don’t like Cara spelled with a K at all and when people make it a K name! I like it best as a C name! C looks softer and is such a beautiful name.
It looks bad with a K and good with a C! And when I see it, it’s usually spelled with a K and very rarely with a C. I don’t get how people fail to connect the name with Carol and Caroline. And how they fail to spell it with a C! They mostly all relate it to Karen for some reason that baffles me! I actually first saw it with a C and have loved it ever since. The Cara I met it was short for Caroline but I like Cara on its own. This is a unique name I love and is one of my favorite names!

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And I pronounce it care- uh. Rhymes with Sarah which I like too. The first syllable I pronounce like the word care and the first syllables of the name Caroline, because I prefer that.

Kara is better. I mostly hate names that are similar to Sara, Tara, etc.

Cara is a pretty name, but it means face in Spanish, which seems pretty weird for me being a Spanish/English speaker and a bit too plain. Then again, that might be a benefit because I kind of cringe when I hear all these names like Pippin or Maddox that just try too hard to be unique. Cara seems more down-to-earth and I like it.

My name is Cara, I pronounce it Car-ah (as in apple)... I love my name, it's unique. My dad chose it and I'm pleased he used the Italian meaning to inform his selection (beloved). My brothers and sisters use RahRah as a nickname, I become quite a strong minded individual (perhaps leaning towards the Norse meaning there)... either way I couldn't be something else, my middle name was selected to give me the option (Suzanne) but I'd never have made a good Suzie or Annie, I use my first name to identify myself more than my surname I don't think I could be anything else.

I'm from Ireland and in Irish Cara means friend which is ironic to me because I don't/and never have had any friends. I am planning to legally change it.

Cara is the name of my youngest daughter, Cara Laraissa (born 1986).
Her mother has Italian roots and liked to have a soundfull name for her.

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In 1995 I invented a script programing language named CARA (-C-reate -A-ny -R-DBMS -A-pplication = CARA), thinking "what Mr. Carl Benz could do, I can do as well...... he named his make of car after his daughter Mercedes...

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In the late 90's I saw an internet page "all about Cara" made by a young girl (guess her first name). She had a very big list of organizations and abbreviations and meanings of "Cara". Unfortunately I can not find it any more. But perhaps this is a good place to gather them all again.

My name is Cara-Mary and I love my name. I go by Cara, I found it easier that way. I pronounce my name Kah-rah and I often tell people like a Car, as I motion a steering wheel. Helps people remember. I have only met one other Cara that spells and pronounces it the same! A magical day, haha. Other Cara's that I have met have pronounced it care-uh and they are lovely. We usually laugh and share that I get care-a and she gets car-a all the time.
My father was born and raised in southern Ireland and met my Mom in London while acting. They had my older brother in London and then had me in... America, haha random. They named me Cara after the opera "I Puritani" a song called "A te, o Cara". I am blessed to be a Cara and I think all versions of the name are beautiful and unique in their own way.

I love the name Cara! It sounds amazing. And Cara Delevingne is an awesome bearer. :)

My name is Cara and it is most definitely an Irish name, not an English name! That's why my parents named me Cara, because of its Irish meaning of Friend. I love my name because of its meaning and because of how unique it is. When I was little I hated my name because I knew nobody with the same name as me but now as I'm older I absolutely love it. I pronounce it CA-RAH.

It's a nice name, but I find it a bit 'over too quickly' for some reason.

My first name is Cara. I pronounce it CAR-RUH. My second name is Florence meaning that my two names together mean Beloved Flower, which I think is really pretty. My dad chose my first name and my middle name is passed down through the family :)

My name is Cara. While I like the name, it can get annoying having to correct people on the pronunciation. I didn't have a problem with this until I was ten. Then suddenly everyone was saying 'CAR-uh' instead of 'CARE-uh'. To make matters worse, people seemed to start thinking it was supposed to be 'Carol' or 'Karen' or 'Carla' or some other vaguely similar name. Then the spelling issues came up and it's gotten to the point where I spell my name every time someone asks for it just to deal with that issue right away. Once I was told by some fool that I was actually spelling my own name wrong and it should be a K not a C. I'm ambivalent about the lack of nicknames associated with it. On the one hand, I'm not really at risk of anyone insisting on using a name I don't care for. On the other, I like the idea of being able to use a nickname that is based on a given name if/when said given name doesn't fit well anymore. That way the name my parents gave me would be in use in some fashion and not just on legal documents. Anyway, I'm not saying all this to dissuade anyone from giving their child this name. I think it's a nice, fairly uncommon name (I've met maybe three or four people with this name in almost twenty-four years of living) with some lovely meanings, but it's always good to know that even simple, four-letter names like Cara can cause difficulties down the road. For me, it's more a lesson in not worrying about your child's name problems in that way because even the simple names that seem safe enough can have issues. If you enjoy a name, use it. Simple as that.

I love this nome. I don't like the pronunciation CAR-ra. To me it sounds harsh. I prefer CARE-ra.

I have also seen it spelled Carra and pronounced car-uh. I hate it either way.

I feel that for the sake of all, BTN should include the Irish meaning (as well as other valid meanings) of Cara as well. I really like that my name has multiple meanings and I think users shouldn't have to look at the comments to see all of them (some of which are a tad dubious, if you ask me).

It's simple but lovely. I quite like it.

I don't care what this name means because it's an ugly name. Weird best describes this name!

I absolutely LOVE this name! I think it's the perfect name for a daughter because it means beloved... Beautiful!

It means beloved and I like that as well as the sound of it. It kind of intrigues me too. It's a good name.

Great name and meanings. Why choose the K instead of its intended way with a C. I think the C makes it adorable and very meaningful, that is, all the wonderful meanings this beautiful name has.

This name sounds nice, but, mostly due to the various meanings of Cara in other languages, I prefer the spelling Kara.

Cara is also a Spanish word that means face, the noun not the verb. I like this name much better spelled Kara rather than Cara.

My name is Caroline and this is my nickname. I really like it, and I don't hear many people with this nickname. Care is also a nickname I use.

Probably because I am Irish, I prefer the pronunciation Car-a. Care-uh sounds weird to me. Either way (Care-uh or Car-a) it's not an English name.

Don't like this name. Too many possible meanings in many languages! It sounds weird.

I like this name. It is pretty. I have a cat named Caramel and her nickname is Cara-Marinara, but sometimes I just call her Cara.

Best name ever.

It's my name, and I love it. I used to hate it when I was young because it wasn't common where I live, but now I think it's nice because there are a few people with the name but it's not over-popular. and I pronounce it KAHR-a.

This is a great name. I prefer the pronunciation of "CAR-rah". It makes it sound sexier and more interesting to me. Makes the whole name more different and unique. I know a little girl with this name and she is so lovely and smart!

My mom's name is Carra. My grandma thought Cara was too short.
I think it is a beautiful name and my mom's is pronounced Care-Ah.

I have twins, one of them is called Cara, I think it is a beautiful name, and the other is Mia. Caramia means my beloved.

My middle name is Cara. My full name (Rachel Cara) means ewe beloved (friend).

My name is Cara and I love it. My dad chose the name, what happened was he decided he had met a lot of nice people called Caroline, Carol, Carolyn etc. and when he couldn't decide he called me Cara. I love my name because it's quite uncommon also it can't be shortened, hehehe.