How common is the surname Karim?

5,729 people in the United States had the surname Karim in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 53,892 Americans. It ranked 6,001st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Karim?

Jawed Karim, American entrepreneur, co-founder of YouTube (born 1979), followed by Mustai Karim.

Where is the surname Karim most common?

Wikidata records people named Karim in the United States, the Soviet Union and Syria.

How do you pronounce Karim?

Karim is /kəˈɹiːm/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Karim getting more or less common?

More common. 3,853 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,729 in 2010, up 49%.

Is Karim also a first name?

Yes. Karim is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Karim

An Arabic surname, carried by 5,729 people in the United States.

Pronounced /kəˈɹiːm/ 2 syllables Soundex K650 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Karim is more common than 96.3% of them.

Origin

Arabic origin

From Arabic كَرِيم (karīm, “noble, generous”).

One of 179 Arabic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 5,729 people named Karim in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 53,892 Americans. That is up 49% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,853.

#6,001

rank among US surnames

5,729

people in 2010

1.9

per 100,000 Americans

+48.7%

change since 2000 (was #7,966)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,996	McAuliffe	5,733	53,854
#5,998	Olinger	5,732	53,863
#6,000	Hallett	5,731	53,873
#6,001	Lawlor	5,729	53,892

Who is named Karim

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

53% of people named Karim identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 23% as white (not Hispanic) and 15% as Black (not Hispanic).

Asian and Pacific Islander 53%
White (not Hispanic) 23%
Black (not Hispanic) 15%
Two or more races 5.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Karims

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jawed Karim
American entrepreneur, co-founder of YouTube (born 1979)
Mustai Karim
Bashkir Soviet poet, writer and playwright (1919–2005)
Ignatius Aphrem II
123rd Syriac Orthodox Patriarch

Notable Karims come mostly from the United States (1), the Soviet Union (1) and Syria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Kareem

Surnames that sound like Karim

Karim has the Soundex code K650, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K650.

Other Arabic surnames

All 179 Arabic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Karim come from?: From Arabic كَرِيم (karīm, “noble, generous”).
How common is the surname Karim?: 5,729 people in the United States had the surname Karim in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 53,892 Americans. It ranked 6,001st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Karim?: In the 2010 Census, 53% of people named Karim identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 23% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Karim?: Jawed Karim, American entrepreneur, co-founder of YouTube (born 1979), followed by Mustai Karim.
Where is the surname Karim most common?: Wikidata records people named Karim in the United States, the Soviet Union and Syria.
How do you pronounce Karim?: Karim is /kəˈɹiːm/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Karim getting more or less common?: More common. 3,853 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,729 in 2010, up 49%.
What are other spellings of Karim?: Kareem.
Is Karim also a first name?: Yes. Karim is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.