Karin
Karin was last recorded in 2025, when 6 babies were given it; 28,731 Americans have been recorded with it between 1907 and 2025 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 24,200 Americans named Karin and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (84% of everyone recorded); the median is 59 years old and half are between 50 and 67.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Karin by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Karin mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Karin is “a female given name from Danish [in turn from Ancient Greek Αἰκατερῑ́νη (Aikaterī́nē)], variant of Karen.”
From Swedish Karin or Danish Karin, a medieval form of Katarina, ultimately from Ancient Greek Αἰκατερῑ́νη (Aikaterī́nē).
/ˈkærɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Karin?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #8,182, in 2024; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
1,051 babies in 1970, the peak
Karin peaked in 1970, when 1,051 girls were given it, #278 among girls’ names. The 6 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 13 | #8,182 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 11 | #9,287 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 15 | #7,451 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 13 | #8,253 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 13 | #8,176 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 17 | #6,871 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 25 | #5,237 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 30 | #4,628 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 26 | #5,213 | 0.01 |
| 2015 | 29 | #4,787 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (114)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 26 | #5,226 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 37 | #4,040 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 31 | #4,655 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 29 | #4,861 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 39 | #3,918 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 43 | #3,705 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 46 | #3,552 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 41 | #3,881 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 54 | #3,115 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 46 | #3,336 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 49 | #3,148 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 54 | #2,854 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 59 | #2,617 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 71 | #2,269 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 73 | #2,179 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 83 | #1,904 | 0.05 |
| 1998 | 81 | #1,891 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 90 | #1,724 | 0.05 |
| 1996 | 86 | #1,740 | 0.05 |
| 1995 | 87 | #1,689 | 0.05 |
| 1994 | 121 | #1,370 | 0.07 |
| 1993 | 141 | #1,232 | 0.08 |
| 1992 | 112 | #1,437 | 0.06 |
| 1991 | 148 | #1,179 | 0.08 |
| 1990 | 157 | #1,111 | 0.08 |
| 1989 | 181 | #961 | 0.10 |
| 1988 | 179 | #942 | 0.10 |
| 1987 | 195 | #875 | 0.11 |
| 1986 | 211 | #799 | 0.12 |
| 1985 | 196 | #830 | 0.11 |
| 1984 | 272 | #643 | 0.16 |
| 1983 | 240 | #710 | 0.14 |
| 1982 | 296 | #608 | 0.17 |
| 1981 | 312 | #590 | 0.19 |
| 1980 | 337 | #552 | 0.20 |
| 1979 | 331 | #557 | 0.21 |
| 1978 | 420 | #470 | 0.27 |
| 1977 | 474 | #427 | 0.31 |
| 1976 | 462 | #434 | 0.32 |
| 1975 | 503 | #403 | 0.35 |
| 1974 | 573 | #373 | 0.39 |
| 1973 | 654 | #337 | 0.45 |
| 1972 | 664 | #340 | 0.44 |
| 1971 | 876 | #307 | 0.53 |
| 1970 | 1,051 | #278 | 0.60 |
| 1969 | 1,009 | #280 | 0.60 |
| 1968 | 971 | #278 | 0.59 |
| 1967 | 949 | #276 | 0.57 |
| 1966 | 855 | #296 | 0.51 |
| 1965 | 918 | #290 | 0.52 |
| 1964 | 886 | #310 | 0.47 |
| 1963 | 898 | #310 | 0.47 |
| 1962 | 826 | #326 | 0.42 |
| 1961 | 734 | #352 | 0.36 |
| 1960 | 738 | #358 | 0.36 |
| 1959 | 721 | #355 | 0.36 |
| 1958 | 669 | #356 | 0.33 |
| 1957 | 690 | #345 | 0.34 |
| 1956 | 725 | #324 | 0.36 |
| 1955 | 606 | #349 | 0.31 |
| 1954 | 571 | #362 | 0.29 |
| 1953 | 482 | #386 | 0.26 |
| 1952 | 477 | #377 | 0.26 |
| 1951 | 468 | #377 | 0.26 |
| 1950 | 360 | #422 | 0.21 |
| 1949 | 347 | #420 | 0.20 |
| 1948 | 461 | #367 | 0.27 |
| 1947 | 384 | #411 | 0.22 |
| 1946 | 275 | #475 | 0.18 |
| 1945 | 175 | #555 | 0.13 |
| 1944 | 205 | #503 | 0.15 |
| 1943 | 236 | #480 | 0.17 |
| 1942 | 415 | #343 | 0.31 |
| 1941 | 185 | #509 | 0.15 |
| 1940 | 129 | #616 | 0.11 |
| 1939 | 109 | #651 | 0.10 |
| 1938 | 101 | #684 | 0.09 |
| 1937 | 92 | #712 | 0.09 |
| 1936 | 55 | #924 | 0.05 |
| 1935 | 41 | #1,090 | 0.04 |
| 1934 | 40 | #1,126 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 44 | #1,057 | 0.04 |
| 1932 | 32 | #1,306 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 22 | #1,657 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 21 | #1,780 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 15 | #2,247 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 16 | #2,236 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 10 | #3,171 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 10 | #3,166 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 10 | #3,236 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 8 | #3,836 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 5 | #5,328 | under 0.01 |
| 1922 | 11 | #3,051 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 10 | #3,268 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,465 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,897 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,439 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 6 | #4,346 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 11 | #2,738 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 13 | #2,315 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,190 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 5 | #3,429 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,797 | 0.01 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,939 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Karin a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Karin has been given almost only to girls: 199 boys in 115 years of records.
Girls and boys named Karin: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Karin, and how old are they?
24,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 84% of the 28,731 Americans ever recorded as Karin. The median Karin alive today is 59 years old; half are between 50 and 67.
The 2020 Census counted 34,535 people named Karin (34,215 women and girls, 320 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 25,388 born in the U.S. The Census count is 36% above 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 | 828 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 9,020 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 10,200 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,880 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 939 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 312 |
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 Karin born?
The states with the most babies named Karin are California, New York and Illinois, with 37% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 3,762 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| New York | 3,378 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Illinois | 1,901 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,455 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 1,342 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| New Jersey | 1,246 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Minnesota | 1,227 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Ohio | 1,120 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Massachusetts | 1,074 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Washington | 907 | not ranked | 1.9× |
Where Karin is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Karin is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 2.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Karin 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, Karin is the second most given (2.7% of them). In 2025 it was given to 6 of their 220 babies (2.7%), the fourth 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 Karin
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Karin and names like it
- Compare Karin and KarenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sKarin peaked in 1970.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Karin since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Karin: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1970The year the most babies were named Karin.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Karin alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with KMost given first.