US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Karen: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Karen for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Karen was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 18 years, between 1951 and 1968, reaching #3. Births peaked in 1957, when 40,591 baby girls were named Karen, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.
Karen in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Karen (1957).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Boomers | 14 (1951–1964) | #4 |
| Generation X | 4 (1965–1968) | #3 |
Questions people ask
When was the name Karen most popular?
By number of babies, in 1957, when 40,591 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #3 and spent 18 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Karen?
Its peak year, 1957, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 18 top-10 years fall in: Baby Boomers (14), Generation X (4).
How many people have been named Karen?
SSA counted 987,989 girls named Karen born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Karen are alive today.