Girls' name · peaked in 1956
Karen name popularity since 1925
990,004 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Karen. Half of them were born in 1959 or earlier, so the typical Karen is about 67 years old in 2026. Karen peaked in 1956 as the #7 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 990,004
- Named Karen, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,281 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 987,219 girls · 2,785 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 1.68× its national share
Peak year is the year Karen made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Karen births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1957. Measured as a share of all babies, Karen peaked in 1956.
- Fastest rise: Between 1930 and 1935, Karen became 12× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 2017 and 2022, its share of baby girls fell by 62%, from 1 in 3,120 to 1 in 8,240.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Karen's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Karen.
Decade by decade
Babies named Karen in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 324 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 16,692 | 68 | #172 |
| 1940s | 167,700 | 454 | #16 |
| 1950s | 332,531 | 563 | #8 |
| 1960s | 286,053 | 722 | #3 |
| 1970s | 95,173 | 376 | #27 |
| 1980s | 34,914 | 272 | #87 |
| 1990s | 24,516 | 178 | #142 |
| 2000s | 20,609 | 103 | #164 |
| 2010s | 7,360 | 38 | #505 |
| 2020–25 | 1,347 | 11 | #1,281 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
59.4% of babies named Karen from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Karen is most popular
The index compares Karen's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Karen.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 1.68× | 7,714 |
| Rhode Island | 1.53× | 5,391 |
| North Dakota | 1.48× | 4,659 |
| Massachusetts | 1.44× | 34,162 |
| Wisconsin | 1.44× | 28,223 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Karen and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Karen (this page) | 987,219 | 1956 |
| Karin | 28,406 | 1970 |
| Karyn | 14,135 | 1964 |
| Caren | 9,560 | 1957 |
| Karon | 6,208 | 1948 |
| Karan | 3,450 | 1956 |
| Karren | 2,172 | 1943 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Karen's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Karen.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Karen (1956).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data