Meaning of the nameIara
- Female
- Tupi origin
- I-a-ra
Iara is a feminine name of Tupi (Nheengatu) origin, which Wiktionary translates as 'lady of the waters', and also the name of a figure in Brazilian folklore.
Meaning
“lady of the waters”
Source: Wiktionary: Iara · Behind the Name: Iara · Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Iara
- People (2022)
- 88,394
- Rank in Brazil
- #351
- Median age
- 32 years
- 2010 Census
- 94,727
- people
Iara in the 2022 Census
People with the first name Iara, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1990s (17,877 people).
87,978 women 416 men
Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.
Where the name Iara is most common
States with the highest share of people named Iara in the population, in the 2022 Census.
- Rio Grande do Sul 0.087%
- Piauí 0.065%
- Bahia 0.053%
- Maranhão 0.052%
- Rio Grande do Norte 0.051%
All states
| State | People | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | 16,487 | 0.037% |
| Minas Gerais | 10,190 | 0.050% |
| Rio Grande do Sul | 9,505 | 0.087% |
| Bahia | 7,463 | 0.053% |
| Rio de Janeiro | 6,607 | 0.041% |
| Ceará | 4,322 | 0.049% |
| Pernambuco | 3,654 | 0.040% |
| Maranhão | 3,521 | 0.052% |
| Santa Catarina | 3,104 | 0.041% |
| Paraná | 3,087 | 0.027% |
| Goiás | 2,757 | 0.039% |
| Pará | 2,330 | 0.029% |
| Piauí | 2,138 | 0.065% |
| Paraíba | 1,825 | 0.046% |
| Rio Grande do Norte | 1,698 | 0.051% |
| Distrito Federal | 1,436 | 0.051% |
| Espírito Santo | 1,328 | 0.035% |
| Alagoas | 1,254 | 0.040% |
| Mato Grosso | 1,120 | 0.031% |
| Sergipe | 958 | 0.043% |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | 955 | 0.035% |
| Amazonas | 861 | 0.022% |
| Tocantins | 716 | 0.047% |
| Rondônia | 421 | 0.027% |
| Acre | 291 | 0.035% |
| Roraima | 217 | 0.034% |
| Amapá | 149 | 0.020% |
States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.
About the name Iara
Wiktionary records Iara as a borrowing from Nheengatu iiyara, 'lady of the water', from ií, 'water', and yara, 'lord, lady', citing Ávila's dictionary. Behind the Name reads the name in Tupi as 'lady of the water', from y, 'water', and îara, 'lady', and links it to the river nymph of Brazilian folklore. The Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil) gives, through José Pedro Machado, the reading 'mother of water', from Câmara Cascudo, and that of other authors, who see only the Tupi yara, 'the one who overcomes', 'the lord'. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 88,394 people named Iara, with a median age of 32; proportionally, it is most common in Rio Grande do Sul.
It is the most common spelling in the group, with the hyphenation I-a-ra in Wiktionary.
Other spellings of Iara
| Spelling | People (2022) |
|---|---|
| Iara | 88,394 |
| Yara | 43,024 |
Sources
- Wiktionary: Iara · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
- Behind the Name: Iara · behindthename.com · meaning
- Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Iara · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · meaning
- Wiktionary: Yara · en.wiktionary.org · spelling
Questions about the name Iara
What does the name Iara mean?
Iara means “lady of the waters”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.
How many people are named Iara in Brazil?
IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 88,394 people with the first name Iara, which ranks it number 351 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1990s.
Is Iara a boy's or a girl's name?
Iara is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 87,978 women and 416 men had this name.
What is the origin of the name Iara?
Iara is a name of Tupi origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.
In which Brazilian state is Iara most common?
Proportionally, in Rio Grande do Sul: 0.087% of the state's population is named Iara (9,505 people), according to the 2022 Census.
What are the other spellings of Iara?
Yara. IBGE counts each spelling separately.
Names that also mean water
See all- Ilza♀Origin uncertain: perhaps from Germanic Ilsa, "nymph, water sprite",…23,989 people
- Jordana♀Feminine form of Jordan, from the name of the Jordan River (in…23,143 people
- Danúbia♀Feminine form of Danúbio, the name of the European river10,514 people
- Ondina♀'wave', through the Latin unda, as a form of Undine6,706 people
More names of Tupi origin
See all- Maiara♀'lady of riches', from Old Tupi84,234 people
- Iraci♀From eíra, 'bee, honey', and sy, 'mother'71,097 people
- Iracema♀'lips of honey', according to Alencar67,397 people
- Jussara♀Name of a palm tree (Euterpe edulis), from Tupi îuçara, 'thorny,…63,835 people
- Maíra♀Name of a mythical prophet52,120 people
- Juraci♂♀From Tupi îuru, 'mouth', and çy, 'mother, origin'42,662 people
- Jacira♀Honeymoon34,716 people
- Jaciara♀From îasy, 'moon', and îara, 'lady, lord'28,001 people
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