Girl's name
Cora
Say it KOR-uh
Greek origin possibly maiden
2 syllables
Where Cora is loved, common and rare
Common across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Ireland. Rare in England and Wales, Catalonia, Canada and seven more places.
1 in 187 girls born in Northern Ireland in 2025
Northern Ireland 47thScotland 77thIreland 86th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 14 of the 40 official lists, among them Northern Ireland (47th), Scotland (77th) and Ireland (86th).
Show all 14 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 47th 2025 | 39 | 1 in 187 |
| Scotland | 77th 2025 | 54 | 1 in 331 |
| Ireland | 86th 2025 | 65 | 1 in 325 |
| England and Wales | 132nd 2025 | 368 | 1 in 688 |
| Catalonia region | 141st 2025 | 31 | 1 in 622 |
| British Columbia province | 187th 2023 | 16 | about 1 in 747 |
| Ontario province | 391st 2024 | 33 | about 1 in 1,650 |
| Italy | 471st 2024 | 27 | 1 in 6,636 |
| Cologne city | 630th 2023 | 1 | about 1 in 6,143 |
| Switzerland | 665th 2025 | 9 | 1 in 3,777 |
| Austria | 672nd 2025 | 6 | 1 in 5,954 |
| Poland | 706th 2025 | 2 | 1 in 59,894 |
| France | 3366th 2025 | 5 | 1 in 57,359 |
| Bonn city | 382nd 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 3,015 |
Rare, below the listed names: Quebec, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Rostock, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: NISRA (Northern Ireland); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source
About the name
Cora seems to have been popularised by James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans, whose heroine bears the name. It may relate to the Greek kore, 'maiden', an epithet of Persephone in classical mythology, so its meaning is possibly 'maiden'.
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KOR-uh is two syllables, short and simple to spell. It has a crisp, old-fashioned feel and no common alternative spellings, which keeps it easy on paper and in conversation.
Cora is most popular in Northern Ireland, and it ranks in Scotland and Ireland as well, with a smaller following in Catalonia and Italy. In Canada it has been in use for generations and peaked around 2017, so it is a revival rather than a new invention. It is rising in more countries than it is falling.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- KOR-uh, 2 syllables
- Meaning
possibly maiden
- Origin
- Greek
Etymology
Apparently popularized by Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826); compare Marmontel's Les Incas (1777) and Greek Kore, epithet of Persephone. Could refer to kore "maiden".
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 3 of 9 regions, falling in 1.
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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 263 | 209 | 158 | 158 | 153 | 149 | 140 | 152 | 134 | 132 |
| Scotland | 103 | 129 | 67 | 81 | 67 | 64 | 67 | 61 | 60 | 77 |
| Northern Ireland | 56 | 56 | 60 | 47 | 43 | 33 | 35 | 39 | 40 | 47 |
| Ireland | 127 | 119 | 134 | 127 | 90 | 110 | 94 | 87 | 77 | 86 |
| Ontario | 256 | 247 | 229 | 230 | 259 | 255 | 283 | 347 | 391 | |
| British Columbia | 246 | 151 | 210 | 210 | 168 | 231 | 316 | 187 | ||
| South Australia | 273 | 223 | 88 | |||||||
| New Zealand | 79 | 76 | ||||||||
| Quebec | 927 | |||||||||
| France | 2573 | 3622 | 3591 | 2530 | 3605 | 3608 | 3650 | 3521 | 2389 | 3366 |
| Austria | 666 | 669 | 664 | 503 | 1291 | 758 | 859 | 825 | 872 | 672 |
| Switzerland | 1002 | 899 | 1033 | 1020 | 1559 | 1370 | 679 | 733 | 607 | 665 |
| Berlin | 740 | 543 | 550 | 574 | 978 | 437 | ||||
| Rostock | 197 | 174 | ||||||||
| Sweden | 925 | |||||||||
| Catalonia | 317 | 347 | 258 | 164 | 159 | 168 | 265 | 159 | 209 | 141 |
| Italy | 1080 | 364 | 503 | 468 | 471 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 132 | 368 | 145.3 |
| 2024 | 134 | 373 | 144.6 |
| 2023 | 152 | 329 | 128.2 |
| 2022 | 140 | 357 | 135.5 |
| 2021 | 149 | 349 | 127.4 |
| 2020 | 153 | 326 | 121.5 |
| 2019 | 158 | 317 | 113.2 |
| 2018 | 158 | 336 | 116.6 |
| 2017 | 209 | 251 | 83.9 |
| 2016 | 263 | 193 | 62.8 |
| 2015 | 235 | 213 | 69.2 |
| 2014 | 242 | 206 | 67.2 |
| 2013 | 315 | 149 | 48.3 |
| 2012 | 302 | 159 | 49.4 |
| 2011 | 458 | 93 | 28.9 |
| 2010 | 438 | 96 | 29.9 |
| 2009 | 537 | 74 | 23.6 |
| 2008 | 691 | 52 | 16.5 |
| 2007 | 666 | 52 | 17.0 |
| 2006 | 571 | 60 | 20.1 |
| 2005 | 545 | 61 | 21.2 |
| 2004 | 590 | 52 | 18.2 |
| 2003 | 486 | 66 | 23.7 |
| 2002 | 620 | 44 | 16.5 |
| 2001 | 605 | 43 | 16.0 |
| 2000 | 405 | 78 | 28.6 |
| 1999 | 521 | 55 | 19.5 |
| 1998 | 664 | 37 | 12.8 |
| 1997 | 1074 | 18 | 6.1 |
| 1996 | 635 | 38 | 12.8 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
Ontario and British Columbia since 1925
Half of the babies named Cora in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 2003. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 2017, at 101.1 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Cora per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 2017 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.
Sister names for Cora
1 in 587 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 155 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 184 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 197 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 1,118 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 571 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 596 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 125 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Cora.
1 in 160 in Scotland
1 in 383 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Cora.
Middle names for Cora
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Cora Grace
2-1 beats · initials CG
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Cora Olivia
2-4 beats · initials CO · Cora slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Cora slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Cora Sophia
2-3 beats · initials CS
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Cora Maria
2-3 beats · initials CM
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Cora Rose
2-1 beats · initials CR
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Cora Emily
2-3 beats · initials CE · Cora slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Cora slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Cora Julia
2-3 beats · initials CJ
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Cora Miriam
2-3 beats · initials CM
Changes the beat after Cora: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Cora
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 155 in Northern Ireland
94% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 346 in Ireland
93% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 383 in Northern Ireland
92% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 140 in Northern Ireland
91% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 121 in Ireland
91% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 596 in Scotland
91% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 197 in Ireland
90% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
1 in 166 in England and Wales
90% alike: moves with Cora across countries and decades.
Famous people named Cora
Cora Sandel, Cora Witherspoon and Cora Sue Collins.
Show all 3Show less
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Norwegian writer and painter (1880–1974)
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Actress (1890-1957)
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American child actress 1927 to 2025
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Cora
5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Cora?
Her best rank is No. 47 in Northern Ireland in 2025, about 1 in 187 girls. She is in the published lists of 14 of our 40 regions.
What does Cora mean?
Wiktionary glosses Cora as "possibly maiden".
How do you pronounce Cora?
KOR-uh, with 2 syllables.
Is Cora getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 3 of 9 regions, falling in 1.
Which sister names go with Cora?
The deck's top five sisters for Cora: Maggie, Rhea, Georgia, Katie and Arianna. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.