Karen
About Karen
Karen, a once sweet Danish import, was so popular during the baby boom (Karen was Number 3 in 1960) that it's become a mem in recent years, representing a hostile white woman—one who usually wants to speak with the manager.
Given to more than 40,000 girls in a single year at its US peak, the name fell out of the US charts in 2020, though it had been on a rapid decline before that. A Danish (and Norwegian) diminutive of Katherine, itself from the Greek Aikaterine, the name it typically said to mean "pure", though the etymology is cloudy.
Pronounced as KA-ruhn or KEHR-uhn in English, KAH-rehn is used among Danish speakers. Parents who want to honor a Karen by choosing an updated version of the name might variations from Karina to Kyra to Kaja to Katri, or look at similar sounding options, like the Cornish Kerensa.
There is more to Karen, however, than its current cultural associations in the Western world. It also has its roots in Japanese, in which its typically transcribed to mean "lotus flower" or "waterlily flower". In this case, it would be pronounced KA-REHN.
Additionally, in Armenian, it is used as an alternative transcription of Garen (used to reflect the Western Armenian pronunciation), meaning "high value, precious".
Pronounced KAIR-un.
As of October 2026, Karen ranked #1281 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #3 in 1965, Nameberry popularity #489.
Editor: Sophie Kihm
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #494 | 633 | 354.4 |
| 2015 | #505 | 627 | 351.2 |
| 2016 | #508 | 617 | 348.2 |
| 2017 | #556 | 554 | 320.9 |
| 2018 | #636 | 470 | 276.3 |
| 2019 | #661 | 439 | 261.6 |
| 2020 | #823 | 331 | 204.8 |
| 2021 | #1,088 | 229 | 139.6 |
| 2022 | #1,217 | 199 | 121.3 |
| 2023 | #1,089 | 226 | 140.8 |
| 2024 | #1,263 | 184 | 113.6 |
| 2025 | #1,281 | 175 | 108.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Karen.
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- Jenny
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- Lisa
- Carol
- Candace
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Karen on lists
Famous Karens
- Karen Anne Carpenter
American singer
- Karen Lynne Valentine
American actress
- Karen Ruth Bass
U.S. Congresswoman from California
- Karen White
American novelist
- Karen Blanche Black
American actress
- Karen Jane Allen
American actress
- Karen Sheila Gillan
Scottish actress
- Karen Trust Grassle
American actress
- Karen Mok (born Karen Joy Morris)
Hong Kong actress
- Karen Lucille "Lucy" Hale
American actress
- Karen Elson
English model and musician
- Karen O
stage name of Karen Lee Orzolek, American lead singer of band Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Karen Russell
American novelist
- Karen Robards
American romance novelist
- Karen Rose
American romance novelist
- Karen Traviss
English science fiction novelist
- Karen Young
American actress
- Karen Olivo
American actress
- Karen Patricia Moe
American Olympic swimmer
- Karen McDougal
American model and actress
- Karen Taylor
English comedienne
- Karen Hassan
Northern Irish actress
- Karen Valencia Clark Sheard
American gospel singer
- Karen Alexandria Kain
Canadian ballerina
- Karen Lancaume
French adult actress
- Karen LuJean Nyberg
American astronaut
- Karen Strassman
American voice actress
- Karen Friedman
wife of American mobster Henry Hill; depicted in film "GoodFellas"
- Karen Batten Pence
wife of American politician Mike Pence
- Karen Matheson
Scottish folk singer
- Karen Louise Bardsley
English football player
- Karen Julia Carney
English football player
- Karen Christenze von Blixen
Finecke aka Isak Dinesen, Danish memoirist
- Karen Muir
South African swimmer
- Karen Khachanov
Russian tennis player
- Karen Mulder
Dutch Supermodel & Singer
- Karen M. McManus
American author
Karen in pop culture
- Karen Page
character in Marvel's "Daredevil"
- Karen Walker
character on TV's "Will & Grace"
- Karen Brockman
character on British TV series "Outnumbered"
- Karen Smith
character in film "Mean Girls"
- Karen Brewer
main character in the "Baby,Sitters Little Sister" series
- Karen Jackson
character on TV's "Shameless"
- Karen Arnold
character on TV's "The Wonder Years"
- Karen Cross
character in film "Silver City"
- Karen DeSonne
character in "Generation Dead" by Daniel Waters
- Karen Murphy
character in movie "Abduction" played by Lily Collins
- Karen Davis
character in film "The Grudge"
- Karen Vick
character on TV's "Psych"
- Karen
character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
- Karen Peck and New River
gospel choir band
- Karen Cartwright
character on TV's "Smash"
- Karen Beecher
Duncan aka Bumblebee, character in DC Comics
- Karen Filippelli
character on TV's "The Office"
- Karen Roe
mother of Lucas and Lily Scott on TV's "One Tree Hill"
- Karen
little girl character in "Frosty the Snowman"
- Rachel Karen Green
character on TV's "Friends"
- Karen von Rosewald
character in the manga "Tokyo Ghoul:re"
- Karen Rooney
character on TV's "Liv and Maddie"
- Karen "Kallen Stadtfeld" Kouzuki
character in "Code Geass"
- Karen McCormick
Kenny's younger sister, character on "South Park"
- Karen Starr
DC Comics superhero, also called Kara Zor,L, alter ego of Power,Girl, the Earth,Two version of Kara Zor,El aka Supergirl
- Karen
a character in the anime/mange Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch
- Karen Googlestien
character from the 2004 movie "White Chicks"
- Karen
a background character in Cartoon Network's "The Amazing World of Gumball"
- "Karen
” an internet term for a particularly self,entitled white woman
- Karen Sisco
main character played by Jennifer Lopez in the 1998 film "Out of Sight"
- Karen Foster
character on the ABC TGIF sitcom "Step by Step"
- Karen
computer wife of Sheldon Plankton from animated series Spongebob Squarepants