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Caress

♀ Girl

How to Pronounce Caress

Pronounced kuh-RES /kəˈrɛs/Medium

Meaning: Caress is a word-name taken straight from caress, 'a gentle, affectionate touch,' from the French caresse and ultimately the Latin carus, 'dear.' Used rarely for girls in the later century — and echoed by a well-known soap brand — it carries a soft, endearing sense with no older name-history of its own.Low

In 30 seconds: Caress is a word-name from 'caress,' a tender touch, ultimately Latin 'dear.' It peaked around 1986 and stayed rare.

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Origin LowFrench, English

MeaningCaress is a word-name taken straight from caress, 'a gentle, affectionate touch,' from the French caresse and ultimately the Latin carus, 'dear.' Used rarely for girls in the later century — and echoed by a well-known soap brand — it carries a soft, endearing sense with no older name-history of its own.

U.S. rank (2000)#15457 ↘ Falling

2000 U.S. births5 girls (0.00% of U.S. girls)

Peak year1986

Total births (all-time)≈ 209

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Caress is a word-name from the noun caress, from the French caresse, 'a tender touch,' and the Latin carus, 'dear.' It saw slight use as a girls' name in the later twentieth century, prized for its gentle sense rather than any traditional pedigree.

Caress crested around 1986 at roughly seventy girls a year and, with only a small total across its run, had faded by the two-thousands. A Caress from the peak is in her late thirties now. It reads as a rare word-name of its era and has not revived.

Did you know? Caress reads as pure word-name — the same term for an affectionate touch — and its brief appearance coincides with the era's taste for soft, romantic vocabulary names.

Overall data confidence 53%

References — Caress — Word-name from 'caress' (French caresse, Latin carus 'dear'); rare

Variations

CaressaCarysCaress

Nicknames

CaraRess

Famous Bearers

Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Caress…

Cherish— a like affectionate word-name for girls

Precious— a comparable virtue-and-word name

Essence— a same-era soft abstract name

Carissa— the closest traditional-name cousin

Explore names like Caress

By themerare word-name french 1980s

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Caress mean?

Caress is the word caress, from the French for 'a tender touch' and ultimately the Latin for 'dear.'

How do you pronounce Caress?

It's said kuh-RES /kəˈrɛs/ — two syllables, stress on the second.

Is Caress a boy or girl name?

Caress is used as a girl's name.

How popular is Caress?

Caress was a rare word-name that peaked in the mid-nineteen-eighties and has essentially disappeared since.