Cora is most likely a variant of Corinna. Corinna originates in Greek language and means "maiden". Corinna was the name of an Ancient Greek poet, as well as a pen name of the English poet Elizabeth Thomas. Though with different spelling, it was popularized by the 1994 film Corrina, Corrina, starring Whoopi Goldberg. The name Cora was popularized by James Fenimore Cooper in his novel The Last of the Mohicans.