Cora — Meaning, Origin & Everything to Know

Cora is a Greek name whose meaning — 'maiden' — gives it a quiet depth beyond its sound. Because it rests on Greek rather than passing fashion, Cora carries a sense of history that many parents look for. Cora offers a daughter the idea of elegance, kindness and gentle favour, wrapped in a sound that works almost anywhere.

What Does the Name Cora Mean?

At its core, Cora carries the meaning 'maiden', rooted in Greek.

The early history of Cora belongs to the Greek world, where 'maiden' was a quality worth naming a child for. Cora survived centuries of use precisely because 'maiden' stayed legible — the meaning never drifted far.

Modern parents tend to hear Cora as fresh rather than old-fashioned, with 'maiden' giving it a positive, aspirational edge. It is exactly this balance that lifted Cora into wider use in the 2020s.

The imagery around Cora is one of elegance, kindness and gentle favour, deepened by the Greek tradition behind it.

Origin & Etymology of Cora

Greek · Greek

Cora comes from Greek, where it means 'maiden'. When families carried the Greek tradition abroad, Cora went too, picking up minor spelling shifts without losing 'maiden'.

Cora holds a meaningful place in the Greek tradition, its sense of elegance, kindness and gentle favour tied to long-standing cultural values.

How Greek names are chosen

Greek naming is close to an algorithm, which is why the same names recur down a family for centuries: the eldest son takes his paternal grandfather's name and the eldest daughter her paternal grandmother's, with later children drawing on the mother's side. The name is usually settled within the first week or ten days, the christening following at around forty days, and by custom the godfather has the final word. Because so many names are saints' names, most Greeks keep a name day — the saint's feast — as well as a birthday, and it is often the more sociable of the two. Regional patron saints show up plainly in the distribution: Spyridon clusters on Corfu, Gerasimos on Kefalonia, Dionysios on Zakynthos.

How to Pronounce Cora

CO-ra — Break Cora into CO-ra and it falls into place. From Greek roots: vowels are open and clearly sounded.