Girl · Greek, through Danish
Karen
Say it: KAIR-un
Meaning
A Danish short form of Katherine, from Greek Aikaterinē, whose origin is unknown.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Brought to the US by Scandinavian immigrants, it was a top-three American girls' name in the 1960s.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1950s
In the United States
- 989,713 babies given this name since 1881
- At its height in 1956, about 1 in 50 girls
- 331 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Karin, Caren
| Swedish | Karin |
|---|---|
| Danish | Karen |
| English | Katherine |
Famous bearers
- Karen Blixen, Danish author
- Karen Carpenter, US singer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.