Kaoru is a very rare variant of Kara that was most common in the 1920s and has all but disappeared.
Kaoru is predominantly a boy name. It last appears in U.S. records in 1999. Kaoru first appears in 1914 and peaked in 1921 (17 births).
| Year | U.S. births | U.S. + territories | ♀ Rank | ♂ Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 6 | 6 | — | #9,304 |
| 1994 | 6 | — | #12,535 | — |
| 1992 | 6 | — | #12,473 | — |
| 1982 | 5 | — | #11,258 | — |
| 1929 | 6 | — | — | #3,760 |
| 1928 | 6 | — | — | #3,933 |
| 1927 | 13 | — | #4,556 | #3,638 |
| 1926 | 7 | — | — | #3,562 |
| 1925 | 17 | — | #4,687 | #2,675 |
| 1924 | 20 | — | #3,837 | #2,555 |
| 1923 | 17 | — | #4,171 | #2,856 |
| 1922 | 22 | — | #3,052 | #2,716 |
| 1921 | 30 | — | #2,707 | #2,023 |
| 1920 | 24 | — | #3,224 | #2,283 |
| 1919 | 9 | — | — | #3,004 |
| 1918 | 11 | — | — | #2,625 |
| 1917 | 16 | — | — | #1,944 |
| 1916 | 10 | — | — | #2,642 |
| 1915 | 15 | — | #4,606 | #2,541 |
| 1914 | 5 | — | — | #3,513 |