How to say it
CO · ra
/ˈkɔr.ə/
Feminine
Cora
Maiden
What it means
Greek korē ('maiden, girl'). An epithet of Persephone in Greek myth; she was Kore the Maiden before her marriage to Hades. James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826) used the name; Downton Abbey's Lady Cora gave it the modern revival.
Cora comes from the Greek korē ('maiden, girl'). In Greek myth Kore ('the Maiden') was an epithet of Persephone before her abduction by Hades; the duality of Kore the spring maiden and Persephone the queen of the dead is one of mythology's deepest figures. James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (1826) named one of its heroines Cora; the popularity of the novel in the 19th-century US spread the name. Downton Abbey's Lady Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern), the American-born countess, gave it a 21st-century vintage revival. It entered the US top 100 in 2017.
Popularity over time
peaked at #15 in 1880, currently #113 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
Downton Abbey's Lady Cora Crawley (2010-2015) gave the name decisive modern English-language anchor; The Last of the Mohicans (1826) is the older one.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Lady Cora Crawley Elizabeth McGovern's character in Downton Abbey, the American-born countess
- Cora (Mohicans) Heroine of James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, 1826
Spelling variants
- Korra
- Kora
Names with the same feeling
See Cora from another angle
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