Nara
Feminine · “man”
Nara is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 1,052 girls against 17 boys since 1880.
Nara was Japan's first permanent capital, and it is separately the Sanskrit for a man and a Korean word for a country.
How old is the name Nara?
Nara first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Nara is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Nara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nara most popular?
Nara peaked in 1909, reaching #2208 nationally. Today it ranks #2458, 250 places below that high. See the whole 1909 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Nara
Nara was Japan's capital from 710 to 784, and its Great Buddha is among the largest bronze statues in the world. Sanskrit nara means a man and gives Narayana. Korean nara means a country. All these reach American records, where the name is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
man; country; oak
Several genuine sources. The Japanese city Nara, whose name may come from a word for flat land or for an oak. The Sanskrit nara, 'man'. And the Korean nara, 'country'. All are documented in their own languages; none is established for American use.
Pronouncing Nara
NAH-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Japanese gives each mora even weight.
Nicknames for Nara
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
- 1909
- Most girls named
- 202472 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2208reached in 1909
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%72 in 2025, from 72
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.
Nara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 奈良 in Japanese — transliteration
- 나라 in Korean — transliteration
- नर in Sanskrit — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Naras among us
people named Nara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 22,323 born in 2025 was named Nara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nara
- #2458
- Nara on the 2025 chart
- #851
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nara went to 72 girls in 2025, but Naarah, Naara and Narah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 109, which makes it the 851st most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,607 places above the chart.
- Nara72
- Naarah16
- Naara14
- Narah7
About 1 girl in 14,746 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 22,323 for Nara itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Nara 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 Nara is headed
Nara looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 19% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Nara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Nara's Great Buddha is among the largest bronzes in the world is a first-rate fact.
- It works across Japanese, Korean and Indian contexts.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The several origins are entirely unrelated.
- In Sanskrit it means 'man'.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
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What they receive
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Nara
Feminine · #2458 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Naras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Nara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nara?
- Nara is the most-used spelling in US records — 72 of the 109 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Naarah, Naara and Narah.
- How popular is the name Nara in 2025?
- Nara ranks #2458 among US girl names in 2025, with 72 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nara?
- About 1 in every 22,323 US girls born in 2025 was named Nara — 72 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nara with classmates?
- Nara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edna#2458 · Jailyn#2458 · Jesse#2458 · Roxy#2458 · Aiyla#2458 · Zaniya#2458 · Alanis#2458 · Samia#2458
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nara and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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