Karen

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Meaning

Karen is a given name and occasional surname. In English, it is a feminine given name derived from the name Katherine, and it is also found in modern Africa, as well as in East Asia.

From Wikipedia

Karen first appears in the data in 1881 and has been recorded in 139 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1957 with 40,590 babies (rank #5 that year). In 2024 it was given to 184 girls (rank #1,263). The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Karen

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Karen yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

22Destiny numberThe master builderTurns visions into structures — a heightened 4.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
6Soul urgeThe carerNurturing, responsible, family at the centre.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
7PersonalityThe seekerIntrospective, analytical, drawn to the unknown.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

990,595

Total babies (all years)

139

Years in the data

40,590

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Karen

Karen Blixenshort story writer · b. 1885
Karen Gillanfilm actor · b. 1987
Karen Horneypsychoanalyst · b. 1885
Karen Blackfilm actor · b. 1939
Karen Uhlenbeckuniversity teacher · b. 1942

Share your Karen story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Names ranked near Karen in 2024

Other girls' names starting with K

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1881	6	#786
1885	10	#715
1886	9	#802
1887	9	#822
1888	5	#1,380
1889	10	#872
1890	14	#747
1891	6	#1,271
1892	10	#984
1893	7	#1,239
1894	11	#978
1896	9	#1,170
1897	5	#1,663
1898	8	#1,316
1899	9	#1,143
1900	8	#1,505
1901	5	#1,806
1903	8	#1,382
1904	11	#1,137
1905	11	#1,212
1906	16	#940
1907	14	#1,061
1908	13	#1,168
1909	12	#1,250
1910	11	#1,473
1911	11	#1,499
1912	28	#966
1913	12	#1,826
1914	34	#1,029
1915	36	#1,146
1916	42	#1,093
1917	47	#1,031
1918	56	#964
1919	27	#1,543
1920	42	#1,179
1921	42	#1,192
1922	50	#1,084
1923	48	#1,106
1924	58	#1,008
1925	49	#1,097
1926	62	#953
1927	57	#1,015
1928	78	#818
1929	78	#801
1930	100	#689
1931	152	#536
1932	303	#367
1933	453	#283
1934	588	#258
1935	1,097	#172
1936	1,718	#132
1937	2,232	#113
1938	4,508	#50
1939	5,541	#39
1940	7,283	#34
1941	10,831	#19
1942	15,386	#16
1943	16,816	#15
1944	15,944	#16
1945	15,680	#16
1946	19,647	#15
1947	21,648	#13
1948	21,996	#12
1949	22,468	#11
1950	24,132	#12
1951	27,998	#8
1952	28,957	#8
1953	29,858	#9
1954	32,456	#8
1955	33,219	#8
1956	40,052	#7
1957	40,590	#5
1958	38,488	#4
1959	36,783	#4
1960	36,380	#4
1961	34,697	#5
1962	35,188	#4
1963	32,487	#4
1964	30,247	#4
1965	32,870	#3
1966	25,449	#5
1967	21,540	#6
1968	19,561	#9
1969	17,635	#13
1970	16,700	#12
1971	14,213	#15
1972	11,180	#21
1973	9,352	#23
1974	8,644	#26
1975	8,168	#27
1976	7,505	#31
1977	7,441	#32
1978	6,371	#39
1979	5,599	#46
1980	5,055	#54
1981	4,539	#64
1982	4,153	#68
1983	3,788	#77
1984	3,537	#82
1985	3,138	#87
1986	2,801	#100
1987	2,580	#107
1988	2,567	#111
1989	2,759	#110
1990	2,715	#120
1991	2,600	#122
1992	2,766	#121
1993	2,807	#116
1994	2,487	#128
1995	2,269	#142
1996	2,401	#133
1997	2,225	#142
1998	2,073	#152
1999	2,172	#149
2000	2,174	#153
2001	2,195	#148
2002	2,224	#150
2003	2,331	#141
2004	2,168	#155
2005	2,065	#164
2006	2,030	#173
2007	2,172	#165
2008	1,816	#187
2009	1,433	#231
2010	1,287	#249
2011	1,104	#287
2012	896	#354
2013	730	#416
2014	633	#494
2015	627	#505
2016	617	#508
2017	554	#556
2018	470	#636
2019	439	#661
2020	331	#823
2021	229	#1,088
2022	199	#1,217
2023	226	#1,089
2024	184	#1,263