# Cora (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/cora/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “maiden” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkoɹə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Kora |
| US babies named this | 156,415 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 387 / 156,028 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 4,845, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Apparently brought up in English literature by James Fenimore Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans (1826), but compare a female heroine of this name in Jean-François Marmontel's Les Incas (1777) and the Ancient Greek epithet Κόρη (Kórē) for Περσεφόνη (Persephónē). It could also refer directly to κόρη (kórē, “maiden”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,555 | 203 |
| 2012 | 2,081 | 155 |
| 2013 | 2,586 | 127 |
| 2014 | 2,967 | 103 |
| 2015 | 3,403 | 88 |
| 2016 | 3,374 | 87 |
| 2017 | 3,446 | 83 |
| 2018 | 3,596 | 73 |
| 2019 | 3,602 | 71 |
| 2020 | 3,036 | 88 |
| 2021 | 3,008 | 87 |
| 2022 | 3,076 | 75 |
| 2023 | 2,751 | 93 |
| 2024 | 2,580 | 103 |
| 2025 | 2,428 | 113 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1932 | 6 | 3,455 |
| 1933 | 13 | 2,010 |
| 1934 | 5 | 3,777 |
| 1935 | 11 | 2,276 |
| 1936 | 11 | 2,203 |
| 1938 | 11 | 2,213 |
| 1940 | 10 | 2,356 |
| 1941 | 5 | 3,600 |
| 1942 | 8 | 2,751 |
| 1945 | 5 | 3,408 |
| 1949 | 6 | 3,380 |
| 1969 | 9 | 3,106 |
| 1971 | 5 | 5,039 |
| 2014 | 5 | 12,441 |
| 2015 | 6 | 10,943 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 93 | 458 |
| 2012 | 159 | 302 |
| 2013 | 149 | 315 |
| 2014 | 206 | 242 |
| 2015 | 213 | 235 |
| 2016 | 193 | 263 |
| 2017 | 251 | 209 |
| 2018 | 336 | 158 |
| 2019 | 317 | 158 |
| 2020 | 326 | 153 |
| 2021 | 349 | 149 |
| 2022 | 357 | 140 |
| 2023 | 329 | 152 |
| 2024 | 373 | 134 |
| 2025 | 368 | 132 |

## People named Cora

- Cora Witherspoon, actress (1890-1957)
- Cora Sue Collins, American child actress
- Cora Jade, American professional wrestler
- Cora Diamond, American philosopher
- Cora pika, Brazilian poet and short story writer (1889–1985)
- Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Dutch former politician
- Cora Pearl, English courtesan who became famous in the Second French Empire
- Cora Berliner, German economist (1890–1942)
- Cora DuBois, anthropologist, academic (1903–1991)
- Cora Urquhart Brown-Potter, American actress (1857-1936)
- Cora Agnes Benneson, American attorney (1851–1919)
- Cora Crane, American businesswoman, nightclub and bordello owner, writer and journalist (1865–1910)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.