# Karen (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/karen/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Danish |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkæɹən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Caren, Caron, Caryn, Karin, Karyn, Garen, Qarin, Karan, Karene |
| US babies named this | 990,774 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,785 / 987,989 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 872, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Danish Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that emerged in medieval Denmark. The term later acquired a distinct contemporary social meaning. Its association with a middle-aged woman is often attributed to the name’s relative popularity among baby boomer and Generation X cohorts. The term’s derogatory usage was subsequently popularized through African-American Vernacular English (AAVE).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,104 | 287 |
| 2012 | 897 | 354 |
| 2013 | 730 | 416 |
| 2014 | 633 | 494 |
| 2015 | 627 | 505 |
| 2016 | 617 | 508 |
| 2017 | 554 | 556 |
| 2018 | 470 | 637 |
| 2019 | 440 | 662 |
| 2020 | 332 | 821 |
| 2021 | 229 | 1,088 |
| 2022 | 199 | 1,218 |
| 2023 | 226 | 1,092 |
| 2024 | 186 | 1,255 |
| 2025 | 175 | 1,281 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 6 | 10,051 |
| 2003 | 10 | 6,992 |
| 2004 | 12 | 6,336 |
| 2005 | 9 | 7,992 |
| 2006 | 11 | 7,184 |
| 2007 | 12 | 6,862 |
| 2008 | 5 | 13,582 |
| 2010 | 8 | 9,245 |
| 2011 | 7 | 10,206 |
| 2012 | 5 | 13,248 |
| 2015 | 5 | 13,061 |
| 2017 | 7 | 10,234 |
| 2019 | 6 | 11,459 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,308 |
| 2023 | 5 | 13,199 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 34 | 988 |
| 2011 | 22 | 1,374 |
| 2012 | 20 | 1,525 |
| 2013 | 25 | 1,324 |
| 2014 | 22 | 1,411 |
| 2015 | 23 | 1,405 |
| 2016 | 18 | 1,689 |
| 2017 | 16 | 1,817 |
| 2018 | 21 | 1,490 |
| 2019 | 14 | 1,940 |
| 2020 | 16 | 1,773 |
| 2021 | 7 | 3,192 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,645 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4,843 |
| 2025 | 11 | 2,440 |

## In other languages

- French: Karin, Carin, Carine, Karine
- Greek: Κάρεν
- Hebrew: קֶרֶן
- Portuguese: Karen
- Russian: Ка́рен, Каре́н
- Armenian: Կարեն

## People named Karen

- Karen Blixen, Danish writer
- Karen Horney, American-German psychoanalyst
- Karen Black, American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter (1939-2013)
- Karen Uhlenbeck, American mathematician (born 1942)
- Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (1950–1983)
- Karen Armstrong, author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain
- Karen Allen, American actress
- Karen L. Nyberg, American astronaut
- Karen Bass, American politician and 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles
- Karen Fukuhara, American actress (born 1992)
- Karen Mulder, Dutch model and singer
- Karen Bardsley, American-English footballer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.