Dara
Masculine · “oak”
Dara is given to both — 855 boys and 13,692 girls since 1880. See Dara as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Dara is an oak in Irish, a wealthy man in Persian, and a gift in Cambodian — three unrelated languages at one spelling.
How old is the name Dara?
Dara first appears in US birth records in 1955 — 70 years ago. The typical Dara alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 800 people named Dara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dara most popular?
Dara peaked in 1985, reaching #1614 nationally. Today it ranks #2676, 1,062 places below that high. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From dair to Dara
The story of Dara
Mac Dara is a saint of the Connemara islands, and dair names the oak in Irish — the tree the druids took their name from, if Pliny is right. Persian Dara descends from Darius. Khmer dara means a star. All these reach American records, where Dara is in current use for both sexes.
Meaningscholars disagree
oak; possessing; star
Several genuine sources. The Irish dair, 'oak', through Mac Dara. The Persian dara, 'possessing' or 'wealthy', from Darius. And the Khmer dara, 'star'. All are documented and none is a source for the others.
How the name formed
- dair
- Dara
Related forms: Dara · دارا · តារា
Pronouncing Dara
DAH-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Persian says dah-RAH with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Dara
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
- 1955
- Most boys named
- 202548 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1614reached in 1985
- Change vs 2024
- +50.0%48 in 2025, from 32
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.
Dara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dara in Irish — same name
- دارا in Persian — transliteration
- តារា in Khmer — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Daras among us
people named Dara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 35,585 born in 2025 was named Dara
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 Yolanda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dara's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Yolanda climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Yolanda's path sketches the road Dara is walking now.
Dara sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dara is headed
Dara should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Dara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the druids may be named for the oak is a first-rate possibility.
- It works across Irish, Persian and Cambodian contexts.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The several origins are entirely unrelated.
- It is used for both sexes in America.
- The stress placement differs between languages.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Dara
Masculine · #2676 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Daras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Dara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dara in 2025?
- Dara ranks #2676 among US boy names in 2025, with 48 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dara?
- About 1 in every 35,585 US boys born in 2025 was named Dara — 48 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dara with classmates?
- Dara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Isaak#2676 · Hershel#2676 · Mikhael#2676 · Kylon#2676 · Pryce#2676 · Davin#2676 · Juancarlos#2676 · Zyion#2676
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dara and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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