Lara

“Variant of Larissa — Citadel or fortress; or named for a Greek mythological nymph” — Ancient Greek origin

Girl's name · #693 in the US (2025) · Retro

Lara's best rank, #223, came in 1969; it has settled back to #693 today. Roughly 30,000 girls have been named Lara since 1887. It is also an American family name — about 83,000 people carry it as a surname, according to US census data.

Around the world: #10 in Croatia (2025) · #11 in Hungary (2025) · #18 in Spain (2024) · #18 in Finland (other-lang.) (2025) · #20 in Austria (2025).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 24 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Laras

Lara Dutta — Indian actress (born 1978)
Lara Fabian — Belgian and Canadian singer and songwriter
Lara Flynn Boyle — American actress (born 1970)
Lara Gut-Behrami — Swiss alpine skier
Lara Stone — Dutch model

In stories & tradition

Lara Croft — Tomb Raider · Tomb Raider comics
Lara Lor-Van — Smallville · Man of Steel
Lara Manni — heteronym

What Laras become

Among 995 notable people named Lara:

Sports figures appear 1.84× more often than among typical names — e.g. Lara Gut-Behrami, Swiss alpine skier.

Similar names: Larissa · Angie · Lacey · Dara · Georgina · Kyra

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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