girl's name
Caragh
KAR-uh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 1,552
Ireland
#82
2025 births
Caragh is a girl's name of Irish origin, generally read as "friend" from the Irish cara, though it may equally be a place name from County Kerry. It ranks 82nd in Ireland.
- Caragh is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2025, when 61 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 735 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1971.
Caragh over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 1970s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 56 |
| 1980s | 30 |
| 1990s | 19 |
| 2000s | 157 |
| 2010s | 231 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 281 |
What Caragh means
Caragh is usually read as friend, from the Irish cara. A second reading takes it as a place name, from Loch Cárthaí in Kerry, in which case it has no personal meaning at all. Neither can be ruled out.
Where Caragh comes from
Caragh is an Irish spelling with two competing explanations. The first treats it as a form of cara, friend, from the Old Irish carae, which would make it a relative of Cara — this is the reading most reference sites give. The second treats it as taken from Caragh Lake and the River Caragh in County Kerry, whose name is separate and generally derived from a word for a rocky or stony place; Irish place names have supplied given names before, and Kerry associations are strong in the name's use. The two readings cannot be reconciled and the evidence does not settle between them. Caragh is also occasionally treated as a respelling of Kara or of the Welsh Carys, from caru, to love, which are unrelated to both.
Caragh in use
Caragh ranks 82nd in Ireland with 61 births in 2025 and 175th in Northern Ireland, and our records mark it stable with a peak in 2007. It is almost unknown outside the island — 4,677th in England and Wales, 16,449th in the United States. Our records carry it from 1997, so it is a recent name rather than a traditional one despite its Irish spelling.
How popular is Caragh?
In 2025, Caragh was given to 61 babies in Ireland, ranking #82 that year. It is a rare choice.
Where Caragh is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Caragh
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Caragh also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Caragh over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Caragh
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.
Caragh 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.
Sibling names for Caragh
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Caragh — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Caragh
What does the name Caragh mean?
It is usually read as "friend," from the Irish cara, though it may instead be taken from Caragh Lake in Kerry.
Is Caragh the same as Cara?
Under the friend reading they share a root. Under the place-name reading they are unrelated.
How do you pronounce Caragh?
KAR-uh, the same as Cara. The gh is silent.
How popular is Caragh?
Eighty-second in Ireland and 175th in Northern Ireland.
Is Caragh a girl's or a boy's name?
Caragh is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Caragh?
Caragh is usually shortened to Cara.
Is Caragh a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Caragh currently ranks #82 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.