Meaning not yet researched.
Karen: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 175 in 2025. Its best rank was #3 in 1965.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #3 in 1965; #1,281 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Karen in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,281 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1965, at #3.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Karen: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 175 girls in 2025. Peak: #3 in 1965 · most girls in one year: 40,591 (1957).
In 2025, 175 US girls were named Karen, making it the 1,281st most common girls’ name of the year, down 26 places from #1,255 in 2024. That is 11 fewer than the 186 girls named Karen in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #3, reached in 1965. The most girls given the name in a single year was 40,591, in 1957. For comparison, it was #505 in 2015 and #12 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Karen in 140 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1881 with 6 babies. In all, 990,774 US babies have been given the name, 99.7% of them girls and 0.3% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1950s, with 333,094 babies named Karen.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 3,428 US girls were named Karen; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 617. In 2025 that was about 1 in 9,184 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Karen ranked highest in Maryland in 2025, at #783 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Catherine (669,611 babies since 1880), Katherine (652,750 babies since 1880), Katie (241,784 babies since 1880) and Katrina (101,731 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Karine, Katrin and Katja are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Danish, Dutch, English and Japanese. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Karine (1,212), Katrin (1,091), Katja (949), Katrine (903), Katarzyna (721), Kaisa (697), Karron (551), Karene (501), Kajsa (406), Katalin (400), Carren (385), Kayron (368), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Karen in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 39 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 6 | #783 | #543 |
| Pennsylvania | 12 | #788 | #656 |
| Ohio | 11 | #841 | #677 |
| Arizona | 7 | #862 | #551 |
| New York | 15 | #1,004 | #343 |
| Georgia | 9 | #1,029 | #641 |
| New Jersey | 6 | #1,090 | #360 |
| Texas | 25 | #1,109 | #365 |
| Michigan | 5 | #1,320 | #811 |
| Illinois | 6 | #1,327 | #518 |
| Florida | 6 | #2,019 | #636 |
| California | 10 | #2,020 | #283 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 175 | #1,281 | — | — |
| 2024 | 186 | #1,255 | — | — |
| 2023 | 226 | #1,092 | 5 | #13,199 |
| 2022 | 199 | #1,218 | — | — |
| 2021 | 229 | #1,088 | — | — |
| 2020 | 332 | #821 | 6 | #11,308 |
| 2019 | 440 | #662 | 6 | #11,459 |
| 2018 | 470 | #637 | — | — |
| 2017 | 554 | #556 | 7 | #10,234 |
| 2016 | 617 | #508 | — | — |
| 2015 | 627 | #505 | 5 | #13,061 |
| 2014 | 633 | #494 | — | — |
| 2013 | 730 | #416 | — | — |
| 2012 | 897 | #354 | 5 | #13,248 |
| 2011 | 1,104 | #287 | 7 | #10,206 |
| 2010 | 1,288 | #248 | 8 | #9,245 |
| 2009 | 1,433 | #231 | — | — |
| 2008 | 1,816 | #187 | 5 | #13,582 |
| 2007 | 2,172 | #165 | 12 | #6,862 |
| 2006 | 2,031 | #173 | 11 | #7,184 |
| 2005 | 2,065 | #164 | 9 | #7,992 |
| 2004 | 2,168 | #155 | 12 | #6,336 |
| 2003 | 2,331 | #141 | 10 | #6,992 |
| 2002 | 2,225 | #150 | 6 | #10,051 |
| 2001 | 2,194 | #148 | 18 | #4,380 |
| 2000 | 2,174 | #153 | 20 | #4,000 |
| 1999 | 2,172 | #149 | 14 | #4,890 |
| 1998 | 2,073 | #152 | 6 | #9,065 |
| 1997 | 2,226 | #142 | 9 | #6,368 |
| 1996 | 2,401 | #133 | 16 | #4,100 |
| 1995 | 2,269 | #142 | 19 | #3,494 |
| 1994 | 2,487 | #128 | 17 | #3,827 |
| 1993 | 2,806 | #116 | 33 | #2,317 |
| 1992 | 2,765 | #121 | 25 | #2,776 |
| 1991 | 2,601 | #122 | 21 | #3,058 |
| 1990 | 2,716 | #120 | 18 | #3,390 |
| 1989 | 2,758 | #110 | 37 | #1,971 |
| 1988 | 2,567 | #111 | 20 | #2,806 |
| 1987 | 2,580 | #107 | 35 | #1,847 |
| 1986 | 2,801 | #100 | 23 | #2,394 |
| 1985 | 3,138 | #87 | 26 | #2,151 |
| 1984 | 3,536 | #82 | 28 | #1,954 |
| 1983 | 3,787 | #77 | 22 | #2,310 |
| 1982 | 4,153 | #68 | 31 | #1,834 |
| 1981 | 4,539 | #64 | 23 | #2,240 |
| 1980 | 5,055 | #54 | 27 | #2,028 |
| 1979 | 5,599 | #46 | 32 | #1,769 |
| 1978 | 6,371 | #39 | 22 | #2,159 |
| 1977 | 7,441 | #32 | 27 | #1,879 |
| 1976 | 7,505 | #31 | 36 | #1,521 |
| 1975 | 8,168 | #27 | 29 | #1,729 |
| 1974 | 8,643 | #26 | 36 | #1,457 |
| 1973 | 9,352 | #23 | 40 | #1,318 |
| 1972 | 11,181 | #21 | 49 | #1,169 |
| 1971 | 14,214 | #15 | 57 | #1,086 |
| 1970 | 16,699 | #12 | 48 | #1,199 |
| 1969 | 17,633 | #13 | 74 | #889 |
| 1968 | 19,560 | #9 | 49 | #1,060 |
| 1967 | 21,537 | #6 | 54 | #988 |
| 1966 | 25,450 | #5 | 64 | #907 |
| 1965 | 32,869 | #3 | 81 | #822 |
| 1964 | 30,243 | #4 | 91 | #790 |
| 1963 | 32,492 | #4 | 83 | #833 |
| 1962 | 35,184 | #4 | 75 | #884 |
| 1961 | 34,707 | #5 | 79 | #863 |
| 1960 | 36,378 | #4 | 72 | #894 |
| 1959 | 36,784 | #4 | 80 | #850 |
| 1958 | 38,487 | #4 | 66 | #939 |
| 1957 | 40,591 | #5 | 77 | #856 |
| 1956 | 40,052 | #7 | 72 | #883 |
| 1955 | 33,217 | #8 | 50 | #1,072 |
| 1954 | 32,456 | #8 | 54 | #1,023 |
| 1953 | 29,858 | #9 | 58 | #943 |
| 1952 | 28,956 | #8 | 36 | #1,233 |
| 1951 | 27,998 | #8 | 34 | #1,268 |
| 1950 | 24,132 | #12 | 36 | #1,212 |
| 1949 | 22,468 | #11 | 41 | #1,102 |
| 1948 | 21,996 | #12 | 36 | #1,206 |
| 1947 | 21,648 | #13 | 37 | #1,202 |
| 1946 | 19,647 | #15 | 39 | #1,119 |
| 1945 | 15,680 | #16 | 52 | #869 |
| 1944 | 15,944 | #16 | 49 | #912 |
| 1943 | 16,816 | #15 | 54 | #912 |
| 1942 | 15,387 | #16 | 65 | #802 |
| 1941 | 10,831 | #19 | 44 | #965 |
| 1940 | 7,283 | #34 | 37 | #1,084 |
| 1939 | 5,541 | #39 | 17 | #1,679 |
| 1938 | 4,508 | #50 | 21 | #1,504 |
| 1937 | 2,232 | #113 | 9 | #2,583 |
| 1936 | 1,718 | #132 | 13 | #2,013 |
| 1935 | 1,097 | #172 | 8 | #2,827 |
| 1934 | 588 | #258 | — | — |
| 1933 | 453 | #283 | — | — |
| 1932 | 303 | #367 | — | — |
| 1931 | 152 | #536 | — | — |
| 1930 | 100 | #689 | — | — |
| 1929 | 78 | #801 | — | — |
| 1928 | 78 | #818 | — | — |
| 1927 | 57 | #1,015 | — | — |
| 1926 | 62 | #953 | — | — |
| 1925 | 49 | #1,097 | — | — |
| 1924 | 58 | #1,008 | — | — |
| 1923 | 48 | #1,106 | — | — |
| 1922 | 50 | #1,084 | — | — |
| 1921 | 42 | #1,192 | — | — |
| 1920 | 42 | #1,179 | — | — |
| 1919 | 27 | #1,543 | — | — |
| 1918 | 56 | #964 | — | — |
| 1917 | 47 | #1,031 | — | — |
| 1916 | 42 | #1,093 | — | — |
| 1915 | 36 | #1,146 | — | — |
| 1914 | 34 | #1,029 | — | — |
| 1913 | 12 | #1,826 | — | — |
| 1912 | 28 | #966 | — | — |
| 1911 | 11 | #1,499 | — | — |
| 1910 | 11 | #1,473 | — | — |
| 1909 | 12 | #1,250 | — | — |
| 1908 | 13 | #1,168 | — | — |
| 1907 | 14 | #1,061 | — | — |
| 1906 | 16 | #940 | — | — |
| 1905 | 11 | #1,212 | — | — |
| 1904 | 11 | #1,137 | — | — |
| 1903 | 8 | #1,382 | — | — |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,806 | — | — |
| 1900 | 8 | #1,505 | — | — |
| 1899 | 9 | #1,143 | — | — |
| 1898 | 8 | #1,316 | — | — |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,663 | — | — |
| 1896 | 9 | #1,170 | — | — |
| 1894 | 11 | #978 | — | — |
| 1893 | 7 | #1,239 | — | — |
| 1892 | 10 | #984 | — | — |
| 1891 | 6 | #1,271 | — | — |
| 1890 | 14 | #747 | — | — |
| 1889 | 10 | #872 | — | — |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,380 | — | — |
| 1887 | 9 | #822 | — | — |
| 1886 | 9 | #802 | — | — |
| 1885 | 10 | #715 | — | — |
| 1881 | 6 | #786 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).