ninan.org

Karen

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~824,800 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,279 among girls
Births in 2025
175 990,774 since 1880
Typical age
65 years, median

Karen popularity over time

Karen rank by birth year, 1881–2025Karen ranked #740 in 1881 and #1,279 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #3, in 1965.#10#100#1,000#1,279best #3 in 196518901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1881–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1957: 40,668 births recorded as Karen. It first clears the SSA reporting threshold in 1881. It has held a top-100 place in 49 separate years.

As of 2025 the name sits at #1,279, with 175 births that year. Compared with 2015, births are down 72%. Year on year the rank dropped by 29.

Babies named Karen per yearPeaks at 40,668 births in 1957.40,668 in 1957018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Karen?

About 824,800 people named Karen are alive in the United States today. That is out of 990,774 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Karen?

The typical living Karen is 65 years old. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Karen a mid-century name.

Your Karen

Ages of living people named KarenHalf of living Karens are older than 65 and half younger.median 65020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Karen is most common

The name is concentrated in Maryland, at 2.1× the national rate. California, New Jersey and New York follow.

Where Karen is used more than average4 states use the name Karen more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.5× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.5× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.7× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 2.1× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Karen is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Maryland 100 2.1×
California 629 1.7×
New Jersey 118 1.5×
New York 258 1.5×

Karen in England and Wales

ONS recorded 11 births named Karen in 2025, ranking it #2,440. That is 31% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Karen comes from

From Danish Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that arose in medieval Denmark. The sense "middle-aged woman" comes from the popularity of the name among baby boomers and Gen-Xers. The derogatory usage was popularized via African-American Vernacular English.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Karen

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Karen Blixen Danish writer 1885–1962 92
Karen Gillan Scottish actress and filmmaker 1987 67
Karen Horney American-German psychoanalyst 1885–1952 59
Karen Black American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter 1939–2013 57
Karen Uhlenbeck American mathematician 1942 56
Karen Carpenter American singer and drummer 1950–1983 53
Karen Armstrong author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain 1944 51
Karen Allen American actress 1951 46
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 2,241 in 1937 to 4,529 in 1938 — 2.0 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/karen.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).