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At a Glance: Name: Cora – Meaning: maiden – Origin: Greek – Gender: Girl – Pronunciation: KOR-ah
Cora comes from the Greek word korē, meaning 'maiden,' and has a vintage feel that fits its long history in American naming records. It's sometimes linked to the Indigenous Cora people and language of Mexico, but that's just a coincidence of spelling — the given name Cora is a 19th-century literary invention (it appears in Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans) with Greek roots, unrelated to that culture. It's pronounced KOR-ah.
Meaning & Origin of Cora
Meaning: Maiden.
Origin: Greek.
A common claim: Cora is sometimes assumed to be connected to the Indigenous Cora people and language of Mexico. Actually: That's a coincidence of spelling only. Cora the given name comes from Greek korē ('maiden'), popularized as a 19th-century literary invention in Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, and is unrelated to the Indigenous Cora people of Mexico.
Source: Wiktionary.
How to Pronounce Cora
Phonetic: KOR-ah IPA: /ˈkɔːrə/
Popularity of Cora
Cora peaked at #15 in 1880, with 1,045 babies given the name that year, and has since settled to #102 in 2024 with 2,570 babies — a name that's fallen from a top-20 spot but still holds a steady, solid presence more than a century later.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1880–2024.
Make Cora Name Art
Free printable nursery art for Cora, pre-loaded below — pick a layout, palette, and font, then download a print-ready PNG.
Names With a Similar Story
Derived from shared style, era, and origin data (or, for names we have no style data for, a similar Social Security popularity trajectory) — not a hand-picked list.
FAQ
What does the name Cora mean?
Maiden. (Source: Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Cora)
How do you pronounce Cora?
Cora is pronounced KOR-ah (IPA: /ˈkɔːrə/).
Is Cora a popular name right now?
Cora peaked at #15 in 1880 and is ranked #102 as of 2024. (U.S. Social Security Administration data, 1880–2024.)
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