Given name & surname
Lara
“lara”·“one who is protected; a cheerful woman”
Lara is a Russian short form with a strong literary and musical association.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “lara” and “one who is protected; a cheerful woman” (Latin). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
In Russian use, Lara is used as a shortened form of Larissa.
The story
Lara is a principal character in Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. The 1965 film helped bring this form of Larissa to a wider audience, and Maurice Jarre’s Lara’s Theme became another association with the name.
Lara through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 30,202
- 34 boys · 30,168 girls
- Most popular year
- 1969
- 1,360 babies
- 2025
- 409
- #693 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +6%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 409 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 693 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 5.9% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 1,354 in 1969. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (54). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 28,726 as a first name in 2020; 83,110 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Lara’s family of names
In Portuguese usage, Lara is a diminutive of Larissa. In French usage, Lara has a conventional equivalent in the Polish form LARYSA. Lara is a short form of Larissa.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Lara has relatives in 7 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
8 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Larissafull form · Portuguese, English
- Larysafull form · Polish
- Laryavariant
- Laritavariant
- Larindavariant
- Larinavariant · German
- Larravariant
- Laramaevariant
Show 2 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 6
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Lara
- Lara DuttaIndian actress (born 1978)
- Lara FabianBelgian and Canadian singer and songwriterborn 1970
- Lara Flynn BoyleAmerican actress (born 1970)
- Lara Gut-BehramiSwiss alpine skierborn 1991
- Lara StoneDutch modelborn 1983
- Lara ArruabarrenaSpanish tennis playerborn 1992
- Lara PulverEnglish actress (born 1980)
- Lara ColturiItalian-born Albanian alpine skierborn 2006
- Lara TrumpAmerican television producer and campaign adviser (born 1982)
Characters named Lara: Lara Croft (Tomb Raider protagonist character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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