Girls' name · peaked in 1975
Kari name popularity since 1925
60,627 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kari (98.5% girls, 1.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1978 or earlier, so the typical Kari is about 48 years old in 2026. Kari peaked in 1975 as the #129 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 60,627
- Named Kari, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,087 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.5% girls
- 59,696 girls · 931 boys
- Most popular in
- North Dakota
- 5.85× its national share
Peak year is the year Kari 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.
Kari births per year, 1925–2025
1975 was the biggest year for Kari both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1954 and 1959, Kari became 5.1× more common, from 1 in 15,800 baby girls to 1 in 3,120.
- Steepest fall: Between 1998 and 2003, its share of baby girls fell by 60%, from 1 in 5,060 to 1 in 12,500.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kari's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kari.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kari 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 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 25 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 157 | 0 | #3,523 |
| 1950s | 2,238 | 33 | #730 |
| 1960s | 10,972 | 84 | #282 |
| 1970s | 18,753 | 164 | #129 |
| 1980s | 17,543 | 138 | #166 |
| 1990s | 6,315 | 94 | #502 |
| 2000s | 1,800 | 71 | #1,363 |
| 2010s | 1,166 | 131 | #1,826 |
| 2020–25 | 727 | 216 | #2,087 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
44.4% of babies named Kari from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Kari is most popular
The index compares Kari'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 Kari.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 5.85× | 1,059 |
| Minnesota | 4.83× | 5,058 |
| Montana | 3.91× | 656 |
| South Dakota | 3.76× | 687 |
| Wisconsin | 3.12× | 3,529 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kari 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kari (this page) | 59,696 | 1975 |
| Cari | 12,757 | 1976 |
| Karrie | 9,870 | 1977 |
| Karie | 5,356 | 1975 |
| Karri | 4,493 | 1976 |
| Karey | 2,187 | 1975 |
| Kary | 1,962 | 1972 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kari's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kari.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kari (1975).
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