Karen

Girl Ancient Greek #1089 in 2023

Karen is a girl name of Ancient Greek origin.

Meaning of Karen

From 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.

Popularity of Karen

Popularity, 1881–2023

231 births in 2023

1881 2023

987,627 U.S. births recorded from 1881–2023. Used for both boys and girls — see notes below.

Peak year

1957

40,667 babies

First recorded

1881

142 years of history

Recent trend

Falling

Last 5 yrs vs. prior 5

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About this page

Popularity counts come from the U.S. Social Security Administration's national dataset. Etymology adapted from Wiktionary under CC BY-SA 4.0. If you spot an error, please let us know.