Cora comes from the Greek Kore, meaning "maiden", a title of the goddess Persephone. James Fenimore Cooper gave it to Cora Munro in The Last of the Mohicans in 1826, which introduced the name to American parents. Cora ranked number 481 in 2000, entered the top 100 in 2015 and peaked at number 71 in 2019, and in 2025 it stands at number 113.