Karan
Karan was last recorded in 2025, when 12 babies were given it; 4,962 Americans have been recorded with it between 1936 and 2025 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 4,150 Americans named Karan and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (84% of everyone recorded); the median is 60 years old and half are between 29 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Karan by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Karan mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Karan is “a female given name of North American usage, variant of Karen.” Its etymology gives the sense “Karna” (कर्ण).
Also “a male given name from Sanskrit, of Indian usage.”
Derived from Sanskrit कर्ण (karṇa, “Karna”). Doublet of Karna.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Karan?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #11,148, in 2004; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
170 babies in 1956, the peak
Karan peaked in 1956, when 170 girls were given it, #745 among girls’ names. The 12 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | under 5 | 12 | #7,001 | |
| 2024 | under 5 | 16 | #5,773 | |
| 2023 | under 5 | 16 | #5,786 | |
| 2022 | under 5 | 9 | #8,645 | |
| 2021 | under 5 | 16 | #5,663 | |
| 2020 | under 5 | 12 | #6,817 | |
| 2019 | under 5 | 16 | #5,679 | |
| 2018 | under 5 | 18 | #5,204 | |
| 2017 | under 5 | 16 | #5,658 | |
| 2016 | under 5 | 17 | #5,427 |
Every recorded year (90)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | under 5 | 23 | #4,348 | |
| 2014 | under 5 | 19 | #4,970 | |
| 2013 | under 5 | 30 | #3,539 | |
| 2012 | under 5 | 34 | #3,270 | |
| 2011 | under 5 | 28 | #3,733 | |
| 2010 | under 5 | 33 | #3,348 | |
| 2009 | under 5 | 47 | #2,638 | |
| 2008 | under 5 | 35 | #3,255 | |
| 2007 | under 5 | 38 | #3,052 | |
| 2006 | under 5 | 41 | #2,808 | |
| 2005 | under 5 | 63 | #1,993 | |
| 2004 | 9 | #11,148 | 73 | #1,734 |
| 2003 | 6 | #14,753 | 68 | #1,769 |
| 2002 | under 5 | 60 | #1,876 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 77 | #1,565 | |
| 2000 | 5 | #16,231 | 50 | #2,029 |
| 1999 | 13 | #7,449 | 73 | #1,536 |
| 1998 | under 5 | 52 | #1,885 | |
| 1997 | 5 | #14,849 | 53 | #1,802 |
| 1996 | 7 | #11,134 | 66 | #1,523 |
| 1995 | 10 | #8,376 | 78 | #1,327 |
| 1994 | 7 | #11,092 | 61 | #1,533 |
| 1993 | under 5 | 36 | #2,181 | |
| 1992 | 12 | #7,249 | 39 | #2,019 |
| 1991 | 6 | #12,204 | 34 | #2,166 |
| 1990 | under 5 | 37 | #2,026 | |
| 1989 | 10 | #7,696 | 22 | #2,838 |
| 1988 | 9 | #8,009 | 21 | #2,725 |
| 1987 | 11 | #6,520 | 17 | #3,013 |
| 1986 | 5 | #11,745 | 17 | #2,947 |
| 1985 | 10 | #6,673 | 7 | #5,450 |
| 1984 | 15 | #4,834 | 13 | #3,366 |
| 1983 | 11 | #5,983 | 8 | #4,708 |
| 1982 | 8 | #7,786 | under 5 | |
| 1981 | 13 | #5,402 | 6 | #5,875 |
| 1980 | 13 | #5,367 | under 5 | |
| 1979 | 19 | #3,962 | under 5 | |
| 1978 | 12 | #5,340 | under 5 | |
| 1977 | 24 | #3,217 | under 5 | |
| 1976 | 16 | #4,042 | under 5 | |
| 1975 | 23 | #3,093 | under 5 | |
| 1974 | 22 | #3,159 | under 5 | |
| 1973 | 23 | #2,952 | 5 | #5,474 |
| 1972 | 31 | #2,372 | under 5 | |
| 1971 | 52 | #1,743 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 45 | #1,918 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | 50 | #1,718 | under 5 | |
| 1968 | 49 | #1,659 | under 5 | |
| 1967 | 56 | #1,500 | under 5 | |
| 1966 | 80 | #1,204 | under 5 | |
| 1965 | 91 | #1,102 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | 101 | #1,088 | under 5 | |
| 1963 | 85 | #1,184 | under 5 | |
| 1962 | 115 | #1,004 | under 5 | |
| 1961 | 112 | #1,034 | under 5 | |
| 1960 | 110 | #1,026 | under 5 | |
| 1959 | 152 | #833 | under 5 | |
| 1958 | 137 | #871 | under 5 | |
| 1957 | 164 | #786 | under 5 | |
| 1956 | 170 | #745 | under 5 | |
| 1955 | 156 | #765 | under 5 | |
| 1954 | 114 | #899 | under 5 | |
| 1953 | 109 | #901 | under 5 | |
| 1952 | 110 | #878 | under 5 | |
| 1951 | 98 | #929 | under 5 | |
| 1950 | 106 | #862 | under 5 | |
| 1949 | 95 | #911 | under 5 | |
| 1948 | 87 | #931 | under 5 | |
| 1947 | 98 | #894 | under 5 | |
| 1946 | 95 | #849 | under 5 | |
| 1945 | 59 | #1,007 | under 5 | |
| 1944 | 73 | #895 | under 5 | |
| 1943 | 91 | #811 | under 5 | |
| 1942 | 84 | #833 | under 5 | |
| 1941 | 56 | #979 | under 5 | |
| 1940 | 31 | #1,362 | under 5 | |
| 1939 | 26 | #1,494 | under 5 | |
| 1938 | 19 | #1,836 | under 5 | |
| 1937 | 7 | #3,621 | under 5 | |
| 1936 | 12 | #2,446 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Karan a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 4,962 Americans recorded as Karan, 70% are girls and 30% boys. In 2025 it went to 12 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Karan: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Karan, and how old are they?
4,150 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 84% of the 4,962 Americans ever recorded as Karan. The median Karan alive today is 60 years old; half are between 29 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 7,018 people named Karan (3,530 women and girls, 3,488 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 4,321 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 222 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,730 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 559 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 573 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 848 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 218 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Karan born?
The states with the most babies named Karan are California, Texas and New York, with 54% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 507 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Texas | 342 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| New York | 319 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| New Jersey | 142 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 138 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Michigan | 124 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 115 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Ohio | 79 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Georgia | 65 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Alabama | 54 | not ranked | 0.6× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Karan with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,074,356 babies since 1880, Karan is the seventh most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 12 of their 220 babies (5.5%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Karan
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1930-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Karon | 9,406 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Karan and names like it
- Compare Karan and KarenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sKaran peaked in 1956.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Karan since 1910.
- The top names of 1956The year the most babies were named Karan.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Karan alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.