Karen

Danish variation of Katherine

"pure"

Karen Origin and Meaning

The name Karen is a girl's name of Danish origin meaning "pure".

Karen is a Danish diminutive of Katherine, an English name derived from the Greek Aikaterine. The etymology of Aikaterine is contested, but generally considered to have arisen from the Greek root katharos, meaning "pure." Kaja is a related name, as it is another Danish variation of Katherine.

Karen, a sweet good-girl Danish import, was so popular during the baby boom (Karen was Number 3 in 1960) that it's locked firmly into fashion limbo today. Recently, the name Karen has been turned into a meme, representing a hostile white woman—one who usually wants to speak with the manager.

Parents who want to honor a Karen or choose an updated version of the name might want to consider the Irish Kieran, the Cornish Kerensa or Kerenza, or variations from Karina to Kyra.

Karen Rank in US Top 1000

# 831 in the US

Karen Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 559 on Nameberry

Karen Popularity

• 831 US 2020
• 559 Nameberry 2024
• 95 Unique 2023
• 224 Mexico 2021
• 25 Iceland 2018

20 Names Similar to Karen

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Karen.

• Brenda
• Lisa
• Barbara
• Linda
• Colline
• Larry
• Christine
• Kristen
• Doreen
• Brittany
• Elaine
• Sandra
• Craig
• Jessica
• Leroy
• Carol
• Carolyn
• Chris
• Idina
• Wilma

Famous People Named Karen

• 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 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