Karen
Featured in baby name books
Karen is a Danish or Scandinavian form of Katherine, meaning “pure.” Karen took hold in the U.S. in the 1920s and was top five through much of the 1960s, so it now sounds ordinary, like Susan and Lisa; singer Karen Carpenter is a famous bearer. Danish writer Isak Dinesen was really Karen Blixen. A badass namesake is Karen Alexander, better known as the tattooed, buzz-cut feminist novelist Kathy Acker.
Sources: 10,000 Baby Names, Baby Names (Laura Emerson), Baby Names Made Easy, The Best Baby Names for Girls, The Everything Baby Names Book, Numerology for Baby Names, 1,107 Baby Names That Stand the Test of Time, Badass Baby Names
Book links are affiliate links; we may earn a commission on purchases.
Usage of Karen in different languages / cultures
The list below was created by gathering names from various sources for different languages, and then matching Karen against each list of names.
❌
Albanian
❌
Arabic
✅
Armenian
❌
Bengali
❌
Bulgarian
❌
Catalan
❌
Chinese
❌
Cornish
❌
Croatian
❌
Czech
✅
Danish
❌
Dothraki
✅
Dutch
✅
English
❌
Estonian
✅
Filipino
✅
Finnish
❌
French
❌
Georgian
✅
German
✅
Greek
❌
Hawaiian
❌
Hebrew
❌
Hindi
❌
Hungarian
✅
Icelandic
❌
Indonesian
✅
Irish
❌
Italian
❌
Japanese
❌
Khmer
❌
Klingon
❌
Korean
❌
Latin
❌
Latvian
❌
Lithuanian
❌
Macedonian
✅
Norwegian
❌
Persian
❌
Polish
❌
Portuguese
❌
Romanian
❌
Russian
❌
Scottish
❌
Serbian
❌
Slovak
❌
Slovenian
❌
Spanish
❌
Swahili
✅
Swedish
❌
Telugu
❌
Thai
❌
Turkish
❌
Ukrainian
❌
Vietnamese
❌
Welsh
❌
Yiddish
❌
Yoruba
Note: In some cases it is possible for the check mark to be missing even if Karen is used in a particular country, as almost no source name list has 100% coverage.
Karen in official name statistics
United States
In 2025, 175 girls were named Karen, making it the #1279 girls' name in the US. Since 1881, 987,989 girls have been named Karen, with the most (40,591) in 1957. It is most common, relative to births, in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year are not listed.
Other countries
Counts are babies born that year, or living people for "all ages" rows, as published by each country's statistics office or population register.
Karen in other languages
- Karin Dutch, Estonian, Norwegian, Slovenian, Swedish
- Katja Dutch, Finnish, Slovenian, Swedish
- Catherine Dutch, English, French
- Katarina Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish
- Katharina Dutch, German, Swedish
- Catarina Italian, Portuguese
- Catharine Dutch, English
- Kaisa Estonian, Finnish
- Katariina Estonian, Finnish
- Katri Estonian, Finnish
- Katrin Estonian, German
- Екатерина Bulgarian, Russian
- Carin Dutch
- Catalina Spanish
- Caterina Italian
- Catharina Dutch
- Cathie English
- Catrin Welsh
- Kaarina Finnish
- Kajsa Swedish
- Katalin Hungarian
- Katarzyna Polish
- Katarína Icelandic
- Kateřina Czech
- Katherine English
- Katia Italian
- Katie English
- Katriin Estonian
- Katriina Finnish
- Katrina English
Karen name days
- August 2 Norway
Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Storms named Karen
Tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones that have been named Karen, newest first.
| Storm | Year | Ocean | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical storm Karen | 2025 | North Atlantic | 93 km/h |
| Tropical storm Karen | 2019 | North Atlantic | 74 km/h |
| Tropical storm Karen | 2013 | North Atlantic | 102 km/h |
| Hurricane Karen (Category 1) | 2007 | North Atlantic | 120 km/h |
| Hurricane Karen (Category 1) | 2001 | North Atlantic | 130 km/h |
| Tropical storm Karen | 1995 | North Atlantic | 83 km/h |
| Tropical storm Karen | 1989 | North Atlantic | 93 km/h |
| Cyclone Karen (Category 2) | 1977 | South Indian Ocean | 157 km/h |
| Tropical storm Karen | 1964 | South Indian Ocean | – |
| Typhoon Karen (Category 5) | 1962 | Western Pacific | 296 km/h |
…and 4 earlier storms.
Source: IBTrACS, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Peak wind is the highest sustained wind recorded for the storm.
Towns named Karen
There are 24 towns and villages with Karen in their name, in 10 countries.
🇺🇸 United States 5🇮🇩 Indonesia 3🇲🇽 Mexico 3🇹🇭 Thailand 3🇨🇳 China 2🇮🇳 India 2🇲🇲 Myanmar 2🇵🇰 Pakistan 2
| Name | Where | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karen | Yogyakarta, 🇮🇩 Indonesia | – | Map |
| Karen | Central Java, 🇮🇩 Indonesia | – | Map |
| Karen | Central Java, 🇮🇩 Indonesia | – | Map |
| Karen | Andaman and Nicobar, 🇮🇳 India | – | Map |
| Karen | Himachal Pradesh, 🇮🇳 India | – | Map |
| Karen | Tamaulipas, 🇲🇽 Mexico | – | Map |
| Karen | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 🇵🇰 Pakistan | – | Map |
| Karen | Texas, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Karen Heights | Florida, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Karen Hills | Virginia, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Lakes named Karen
There are 11 lakes and reservoirs with Karen in their name, in 4 countries.
🇺🇸 United States 7🇨🇦 Canada 2🇮🇩 Indonesia 1🇸🇪 Sweden 1
| Name | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| Blå-Karen | Stockholm, 🇸🇪 Sweden | Map |
| Karen Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Karen Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Karen Lake | Indiana, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Karen Lake | Michigan, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Karen Lake | Oregon, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Karen Lake | Alaska, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Karen Reservoir | Wyoming, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Lake Karen | Florida, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Lake Karen | Tennessee, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Karen songs
8 songs and musical works on Wikidata have Karen in their title. The best known:
- Ung Erik og skjønn Karen
- Aa Gupchup Gupchup Pyar Karen – Sachin Dev Burman (1951)
- Aao Twist Karen – Rahul Dev Burman (1965)
- KAREN
- KAREN'S CREED
- Kuchh Tum Karo Kuchh Hum Karen – Lata Mangeshkar (1979)
- Tere Naina Talash Karen – Manna Dey (1969)
- Tunic (Song for Karen) – Sonic Youth
Song data: Wikidata (CC0), ordered by how widely each song is covered on Wikipedia.
Celebrities named Karen
Based on celebrities listed on Wikipedia, filtered to only those with the first name Karen.
Karen Allen
Karen Barbat
Karen Black
Karen Carpenter
See more...
Fictional characters named Karen
Characters from films and TV series, from Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia.
Character data: Wikidata (CC0). Images: Wikimedia Commons; click an image for its author and licence.
Karen as a pet name
FurryName has found 20 dogs named Karen in public pet registers, making it the #4,521 dog name there. Most of them are registered in New York City (11), Adelaide (1), Vancouver (1). Karen as a dog name →
Karen products
☕
Karen name mug
🥤
Karen tumbler
🧢
Karen cap
👕
Karen t-shirt
📿
Karen necklace
💫
Karen bracelet
🔑
Karen keychain
🎄
Karen ornament
🧸
Karen baby blanket
🧩
Karen name puzzle
🖼️
Karen wall sign
🛏️
Karen pillow
Product links are Amazon affiliate links; we may earn a commission on purchases.