girl's name
Alara
a-LAH-ra
- Origin Turkish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 3,865
the United States
#653
2025 births
Alara is a girl's name from Turkic mythology, where she is a water fairy. It charts in all seven markets we track and reached its highest recorded level at the latest count, which is unusual for a name our records carry from 1989.
- Alara is a name of Turkish origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 441 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 7,518 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1989.
Alara over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1980s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 6 |
| 1990s | 64 |
| 2000s | 295 |
| 2010s | 605 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,213 |
What Alara means
Alara names a water fairy in Turkic mythology. Some sources give bright or radiant instead, but that reading is not supported by the mythological source.
Where Alara comes from
Alara is a figure in Turkic mythology, a su perisi or water fairy, said to grant wishes to those she finds worthy and associated with lakes and springs. The name entered modern Turkish given-name use in the twentieth century as part of a broader turn toward pre-Islamic Turkic mythology for names, alongside Asena and Ayaz. English-language name references frequently gloss it as bright or radiant, apparently by association with the Arabic and Latin words that look similar, but the mythological figure is the actual source and no Turkish reference supports the brightness reading. Its recent spread beyond Turkey follows Turkish diaspora communities in Germany, Britain and France.
Alara in use
Alara ranks 183rd in Northern Ireland on 10 births, 313th in England and Wales on 139, 512th in Scotland, 582nd in Ireland, 653rd in the United States on 441 and 6475th in France — all seven markets we track. It peaked in the United States in 2025, when 441 babies were registered, which is the latest year in our data. Our records carry it from 1989 across 3,865 lifetime births, so it took 36 years to reach its high point.
How popular is Alara?
In 2025, Alara was given to 441 babies in the United States, ranking #653 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Alara is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Alara
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Alara also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alara over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Alara
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Alara in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Alera
Sibling names for Alara
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alara — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Alara
What does the name Alara mean?
It names a water fairy in Turkic mythology. The bright or radiant gloss some sources give is not supported by Turkish references.
Is Alara a Turkish name?
Yes, from pre-Islamic Turkic mythology, and it entered modern Turkish use in the twentieth century.
How do you pronounce Alara?
a-LAH-ra, with the stress on the second syllable.
How popular is Alara?
183rd in Northern Ireland and 653rd in the United States, at its highest recorded level.
Is Alara a girl's or a boy's name?
Alara is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Alara?
Alara is usually shortened to Ala.
Is Alara a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alara currently ranks #183 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.