Name profile

Lara

feminine

90First-name usabilityHighly workable

Evidence coverageGood

This reflects the first name on its own. The full-name report scores the complete combination separately.

Lara functions as a short form of the Greek/Latin name Larissa, used across Greek, Latin, and Russian-language traditions. Separately and independently, in Roman mythology Lara (Larunda) is a water nymph and the mother of the Lares (household guardian deities) — a distinct mythological figure not necessarily connected to the Larissa-shortening usage.

Why it works

English speakers will almost certainly pronounce it correctly on the first try
spelling is short and predictable — rarely needs repeating

What to know

pronunciation varies somewhat by language — see "How it travels" for the specifics

Popularity

Uncommon — #693 in the latest U.S. ranking.

Meaning and origin

Lara means Lara most commonly functions as a short form of the Greek/Latin name Larissa (no independently documented literal meaning for Larissa itself was verified in this research). Separately, in Roman mythology Lara (also called Larunda) is a water nymph, mother of the Lares (household guardian deities) — a distinct mythological name rather than a shortening.

Used as a feminine given name across Russian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovene, and Croatian-speaking traditions.

Documented origin: Lara functions as a short form of the Greek/Latin name Larissa, used across Greek, Latin, and Russian-language traditions. Separately and independently, in Roman mythology Lara (Larunda) is a water nymph and the mother of the Lares (household guardian deities) — a distinct mythological figure not necessarily connected to the Larissa-shortening usage.

VerifiedDirectly documented by an independent source, with no competing account on file.

How it travels

English and Turkish are shown by default; German is included when it adds a meaningfully different reading.

EnglishLAH-ruhresearched pronunciation

TurkishEnglish tends to reduce unstressed vowels; Turkish pronounces vowels at full value, so the ending may sound crisper to Turkish speakers than to English speakers.deterministic phonetic analysis

GermanEnglish tends to reduce unstressed vowels; German pronounces vowels at full value, so the ending may sound crisper to German speakers than to English speakers.deterministic phonetic analysis

Spelling stability: high — based on letter-pattern analysis, not a documented linguistic fact.

Also documented

English: ˈlɑːrə

Popularity without panic

Uncommon — #693 in the latest U.S. ranking.

Still uncommon, but no longer unfamiliar.

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Real-world considerations

Larissa's own literal meaning was not independently verified in this research, so "short form of Larissa" describes a documented naming relationship, not a confirmed word-for-word meaning for Lara.

Explore alternatives

Larissa

Documented as a related name or variant form.