Dara

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Dara are several given names used for both men and women in different languages.

Etymology

Dara are several different homonymous names with different etymological origins.

• In Hebrew, Dara means "compassion" or "pearl of wisdom".^{[citation needed]}
• In Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia, Dara means "gift", or "to give a gift", its meaning directly derives from dar "gift".
• In Ibibio, Dara is a derivative of "joy", and it means "rejoice".
• In Indonesian, Dara is a feminine given name meaning "girl", "young woman", or "virgin".
• In Yoruba, Dara is a short form of the name Oluwadara or Oluwadarasimi, given to a male or female child meaning "God's Good". Oluwa means "God" and Dara means "is good".
• Dara is an anglicisation of the Irish language given name Dáire, which is likely derived from doire "oak wood".^{[citation needed]} Despite traditionally being masculine, it is sometimes used as a unisex name. Alternative spellings include Daire or Darragh. It also occurs as a surname, possibly a version of the surname Mac Dubhdara.
• In Javanese, Dara means "dove" or "pigeon".
• Because of the diacritic mark in Yoruba, Dara is also a short form of Oluwaṣindara, which means "wonder (God still does wonder)".
• In Gokana, "Dara" mean to "carry".
• In Kazakh, Dara is a feminine given name meaning "special, one of a kind".
• In Khmer, Thai, and Lao, Dara is a unisex name meaning "star".
• In Persian, and Parsi communities, Dara (Persian: دارا) is a variant of the masculine given name Darius. In contemporary Persian, it means "rich", "well-off" and "well-to-do".
• In Punjabi, Dara means "leader".
• In Swahili, Dara means "the beautiful one".
• The word "Odara" derives from the Brazilian indigenous Ioruba word dara, meaning "gorgeous."
• In Urdu, Dara is a masculine given name meaning "possessor" or "sovereign" and "halo (of the moon)". It can also mean "sovereign" or "lord", a meaning shared with the Sikh language. In Urdu, Dara is a short form of Darius.
• In African-American culture, the name Dara is of Bermudian origin, also meaning "beautiful".

First name

• Dara Greig (born 2000), Canadian ice hockey player
• Dara Murphy (born 1969), Irish politician
• Dara Nusserwanji Khurody (1906–1983), Indian dairy entrepreneur
• Dara Ó Briain (born 1972), Irish comedian and television presenter
• Dara Reneé, (born 2000), American actress
• Dara Shikoh, eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan
• Dara Singh, Indian actor and wrestler
• Dara Torres (born 1967), American Olympic swimming champion
• Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia (1883–1969), Indian geologist
• Dara Khosrowshahi (born 1969), businessman and CEO of Uber

People

• Dara (South Korean singer) (born 1984), South Korean singer, actress and TV presenter, member of K-pop girl group 2NE1
• Dara (Bulgarian singer) (born 1998), a Bulgarian singer
• Dara Alizadeh (born 1993), Bermudian and American rower who represents Bermuda
• Dara Bashir (born 1960), Pakistani former first-class cricketer
• Dara Birnbaum (1946–2025), American video and installation artist
• Dara Brown (born 1964/1965), news anchor and senior producer for MSNBC.com
• Dara Bubamara, Serbian singer
• Dara Calleary, Irish politician
• Dara Dotiwalla (1933–2019), Indian cricket umpire
• Dara Fitzpatrick, Irish helicopter pilot
• Dara Gallagher, Irish Gaelic footballer
• Dara Greig (born 2000), American-born Canadian ice hockey player
• Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, American magazine feature writer
• Dara Hayes, birth name of the Australian DJ Tigerlily
• Dara Horn, American novelist
• Dara Howell (born 1994), Canadian freestyle skier
• Dara Huang (born 1982/1983), British-American architect
• Dara Jingga, one of the Malay Dharmasraya princess who was intended to be betrothed to Javanese King Kertanegara of Singasari
• Dara Khosrowshahi, Iranian-American businessman, CEO of Uber
• Dara Kovačević (born 1983), former Serbian basketball player
• Dara Maclean (born 1986), American contemporary Christian singer and songwriter
• Dara Mohammed (born 1987), Iraqi football player of Kurdish ethnicity
• Dara Murphy, Irish politician
• Dara Nusserwanji Khurody (1906–1983), Indian dairy entrepreneur
• Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia (1883–1969), Indian geologist
• Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian and TV presenter
• Dara Ó Cinnéide (born 1975), Irish former Gaelic footballer
• Dara Ó Conaola (born 1945), Irish writer
• Dara O'Shea, Irish Association Football player
• Dara Rasmi, princess of Chiang Mai
• Dara Reneé, American actress
• Dara Rolins, Slovak recording artist
• Dara Shikoh, Indian prince
• Dara Singh, Indian professional wrestler
• Dara Singh (Bajrang Dal), serial killer
• Dara Strolovitch, American political scientist
• Dara Torre, American politician
• Dara Torres, American swimmer
• Dara Tucker, American singer, songwriter, social commentator and satirist
• Dara (דרע) is a personage in 1 Chronicles 2:6, a descendant of Judah, son of Jacob.

Fictional characters

• Sumerian God Enki was also known as "Dara-Mah"
• Dara is a young elf from The Witcher (TV series).
• Dara is a Romani person from the Brazilian novel Explode Coração
• Dara is an elder from Caer Pelyn village from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
• Dara Shirazi, the protagonist of the book The Electric Heir.
• Dara is the Princess, and later the Queen, of the Courts of Chaos in The Chronicles of Amber

See also

• List of Irish-language given names

References