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Karen
Pronounced /ˈkæɹən/
Rank in 2024
unranked
Born in 2024
0
Peak year
1964 · #789
Origin
Danish
Also recorded for girls:184 in 2024 (#1,260)
1880 to 2024
UncommonIts story in numbers
- No boys were recorded as Karen in 2024; the SSA lists names only when 5 or more babies get them.
- It peaked in 1964 with 91 babies, ranked #789.
- It first shows up in the records in 1935.
- 2,784 boys have been named Karen since 1880.
Who else has this name
Babies named Karen per 1,000 born in each generation, on one shared scale.
- 0Greatest1901–27
- <0.1Silent1928–45
- <0.1Boomers1946–64
- <0.1Gen X1965–80
- <0.1Millennials1981–96
- <0.1Gen Z1997–12
- <0.1Gen Alpha2013–24
Greatest: 0 babies, 0.00 per 1,000. Silent: 369 babies, 0.02 per 1,000. Boomers: 1,115 babies, 0.03 per 1,000. Gen X: 725 babies, 0.03 per 1,000. Millennials: 394 babies, 0.01 per 1,000. Gen Z: 152 babies, 0.00 per 1,000. Gen Alpha: 29 babies, 0.00 per 1,000.
Meaning and origin
From Danish Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that emerged in medieval Denmark. The term later acquired a distinct contemporary social meaning. Its association with a middle-aged woman is often attributed to the name’s relative popularity among baby boomer and Generation X cohorts. The term’s derogatory usage was subsequently popularized through African-American Vernacular English (AAVE).
- A female given name from Danish.
- A transliteration of the Armenian male given name Կարեն (Karen).
- Origin
- Danish
- Say it
- /ˈkæɹən/
From Wiktionary’s entry for Karen, CC BY-SA 4.0.