Alara
Feminine
Three open syllables, all vowels ringing — Alara is the kind of name that carries clearly across a playground without a single hard consonant in it. In Turkey it has been in steady use as a girl's name, and it shares its shape with a river and a thirteenth-century caravanserai on the Mediterranean coast. In American records it is a newcomer, still gathering its history rather than living off an old one.
How old is the name Alara?
Alara first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Alara is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,200 people named Alara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alara most popular?
Alara peaked in 2025, reaching #652 nationally. Today it ranks #652, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Alara appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Alara
The clearest anchor for Alara is Turkey. The Alara River runs down from the Taurus mountains to the Mediterranean near Alanya, past a castle and a caravanserai built in the thirteenth century under the Seljuk sultans — the same syllables now given to daughters across Turkey. How the name reached American birth records is not documented; it appears here only in recent decades, in a country that already knew Lara, Clara and Alana and could read it at a glance. Its rise in the US has been quick and is still going on, which means most of the people who carry it here are children.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No established meaning. Baby-name sites widely repeat that Alara was a water fairy in Turkish mythology, but that claim has no traceable source in the folklore record. What is documented: the Alara River in Antalya province, southern Turkey, and the Seljuk-era Alara Castle and Alarahan caravanserai beside it; and modern use of Alara as a girl's given name in Turkey.
Pronouncing Alara
uh-LAR-uh
The common American reading puts the weight on the middle syllable. Turkish speakers more often stress the last, closer to a-la-RA, with all three vowels kept full and open. Both are correct, and families often use one at home and accept the other outside it.
Nicknames for Alara
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1989
- Most girls named
- 2025441 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #652reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +88.5%441 in 2025, from 234
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alara in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Alaras among us
people named Alara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,645 born in 2025 was named Alara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Griselda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Alara's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Griselda climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Griselda's path sketches the road Alara is walking now.
Alara is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Alara is headed
Alara looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 39% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Alara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Reads correctly on first sight for most English speakers — the letters are the ones already familiar from Lara, Clara and Alana.
- Lara is a ready-made short form that works as a full name on its own, so the child has a second register available.
- No silent letters, no consonant clusters; it survives being spelled aloud over a phone.
- Works in both Turkish and English mouths, which matters for families with ties to more than one.
- The "water fairy of Turkish mythology" meaning circulates everywhere online and has no source behind it. If you love the name, love it for its sound and its Anatolian footing — not for a translation someone can look up and dispute.
- It sits a single letter from Elara, a name from Greek mythology now also carried by a moon of Jupiter, and close to Alora, Alaia and Alayna. Expect occasional mishearing and a lifetime of gentle corrections.
- The name is climbing quickly. A child born now is unlikely to meet another, but that could look different by the time she is in high school — worth knowing if rarity is part of the appeal.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Alara to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Alara? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Alara
Feminine · #652 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alaras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Alara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alara in 2025?
- Alara ranks #652 among US girl names in 2025, with 441 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alara?
- About 1 in every 3,645 US girls born in 2025 was named Alara — 441 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alara with classmates?
- Alara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rosa#652 · Irene#651 · Miranda#654 · Eileen#654 · Andie#650 · Gloria#654 · Shelby#649 · Hana#657
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alara and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle