Kara vs Karen

Side-by-side comparison of Kara and Karen — popularity rank, total births, peak decade, and historical trends from Social Security Administration data.

Name A

Kara

Girl name · Rank #987

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Name B

Karen

Girl name · Rank #1260

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Which name is more popular?

Metric Kara Karen
Current Rank #987 #1260
Total Births (all years) 101,514 987,811
Peak Year 1991 1957
Peak Year Births 3,280 40,590
Peak Decade 1980ss 1950ss
Gender Girl Girl
First Recorded Year 1896 1881

Births by Decade

Decade Kara Karen
1880ss — 49
1890ss 5 79
1900ss — 98
1910ss 7 304
1920ss — 564
1930ss 81 16,692
1940ss 221 167,699
1950ss 743 332,533
1960ss 7,040 286,054
1970ss 19,760 95,173
1980ss 27,507 34,917
1990ss 23,513 24,515
2000ss 13,490 20,608
2010ss 7,485 7,357
2020ss 1,662 1,169

Recent Annual Births (2014–present)

Year Kara Karen
2014 730 633
2015 624 627
2016 626 617
2017 609 554
2018 621 470
2019 530 439
2020 426 331
2021 373 229
2022 319 199
2023 283 226
2024 261 184

Data Sources

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, ssa.gov/oact/babynames.
Source: SSA Annual Name Rankings, 1896–2024.

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