Karla
Karla was given to 340 girls in 2025, #803 among girls’ names; 91,895 Americans have been recorded with it since 1915 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 84,100 Americans named Karla and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 42 years old and half are between 24 and 60.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Karla by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Karla mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Karla is “a female given name from the Germanic languages, masculine equivalent Karl.”
By surface analysis, Karl + -a.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Karla?
#803 among girls’ names, 2025
Karla fell from #511 in 2015 to #803 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.35 to 0.21 per 1,000.
2,066 babies in 1964, the peak
Karla peaked in 1964, when 2,066 babies were given it (2,060 girls, #182 among girls’ names). The 340 births of 2025 are 16% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 340 | #803 | 0.21 |
| 2024 | 385 | #732 | 0.24 |
| 2023 | 398 | #711 | 0.25 |
| 2022 | 425 | #689 | 0.26 |
| 2021 | 411 | #701 | 0.25 |
| 2020 | 420 | #676 | 0.26 |
| 2019 | 427 | #681 | 0.25 |
| 2018 | 476 | #628 | 0.28 |
| 2017 | 553 | #557 | 0.32 |
| 2016 | 554 | #562 | 0.31 |
Every recorded year (108)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 617 | #511 | 0.35 |
| 2014 | 621 | #504 | 0.35 |
| 2013 | 647 | #475 | 0.37 |
| 2012 | 761 | #412 | 0.43 |
| 2011 | 910 | #353 | 0.52 |
| 2010 | 989 | #325 | 0.56 |
| 2009 | 1,116 | #298 | 0.61 |
| 2008 | 1,421 | #243 | 0.75 |
| 2007 | 1,581 | #219 | 0.82 |
| 2006 | 1,656 | #208 | 0.87 |
| 2005 | 1,716 | #203 | 0.93 |
| 2004 | 1,749 | #196 | 1.0 |
| 2003 | 1,780 | #179 | 1.0 |
| 2002 | 1,840 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 2001 | 1,699 | #193 | 0.94 |
| 2000 | 1,587 | #203 | 0.87 |
| 1999 | 1,609 | #194 | 0.91 |
| 1998 | 1,473 | #209 | 0.83 |
| 1997 | 1,470 | #201 | 0.84 |
| 1996 | 1,435 | #204 | 0.82 |
| 1995 | 1,182 | #241 | 0.67 |
| 1994 | 1,260 | #223 | 0.71 |
| 1993 | 1,197 | #234 | 0.66 |
| 1992 | 1,157 | #239 | 0.63 |
| 1991 | 1,088 | #258 | 0.58 |
| 1990 | 1,002 | #276 | 0.53 |
| 1989 | 966 | #279 | 0.52 |
| 1988 | 866 | #286 | 0.49 |
| 1987 | 868 | #283 | 0.50 |
| 1986 | 915 | #271 | 0.53 |
| 1985 | 902 | #278 | 0.52 |
| 1984 | 934 | #262 | 0.55 |
| 1983 | 940 | #254 | 0.56 |
| 1982 | 957 | #259 | 0.57 |
| 1981 | 986 | #252 | 0.59 |
| 1980 | 1,026 | #251 | 0.62 |
| 1979 | 1,080 | #239 | 0.67 |
| 1978 | 948 | #250 | 0.62 |
| 1977 | 1,000 | #248 | 0.65 |
| 1976 | 978 | #242 | 0.67 |
| 1975 | 1,013 | #242 | 0.69 |
| 1974 | 1,065 | #239 | 0.73 |
| 1973 | 1,111 | #230 | 0.76 |
| 1972 | 1,121 | #244 | 0.74 |
| 1971 | 1,417 | #216 | 0.85 |
| 1970 | 1,634 | #196 | 0.93 |
| 1969 | 1,536 | #205 | 0.91 |
| 1968 | 1,504 | #205 | 0.92 |
| 1967 | 1,646 | #190 | 1.0 |
| 1966 | 1,686 | #193 | 1.0 |
| 1965 | 1,804 | #188 | 1.0 |
| 1964 | 2,060 | #182 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 2,007 | #189 | 1.0 |
| 1962 | 1,947 | #192 | 1.0 |
| 1961 | 1,871 | #195 | 0.93 |
| 1960 | 1,655 | #206 | 0.82 |
| 1959 | 1,635 | #207 | 0.81 |
| 1958 | 1,484 | #214 | 0.74 |
| 1957 | 1,529 | #215 | 0.75 |
| 1956 | 1,391 | #218 | 0.69 |
| 1955 | 1,205 | #234 | 0.62 |
| 1954 | 1,135 | #241 | 0.58 |
| 1953 | 941 | #266 | 0.50 |
| 1952 | 828 | #279 | 0.45 |
| 1951 | 722 | #292 | 0.40 |
| 1950 | 592 | #319 | 0.35 |
| 1949 | 480 | #361 | 0.28 |
| 1948 | 465 | #366 | 0.27 |
| 1947 | 504 | #359 | 0.28 |
| 1946 | 427 | #364 | 0.27 |
| 1945 | 319 | #397 | 0.24 |
| 1944 | 217 | #488 | 0.16 |
| 1943 | 218 | #505 | 0.16 |
| 1942 | 187 | #541 | 0.14 |
| 1941 | 148 | #575 | 0.12 |
| 1940 | 137 | #592 | 0.12 |
| 1939 | 122 | #611 | 0.11 |
| 1938 | 87 | #742 | 0.08 |
| 1937 | 81 | #756 | 0.08 |
| 1936 | 73 | #792 | 0.07 |
| 1935 | 38 | #1,148 | 0.04 |
| 1934 | 46 | #1,026 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 32 | #1,276 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 28 | #1,437 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 19 | #1,830 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 10 | #2,946 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 10 | #3,037 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 10 | #3,046 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 11 | #2,956 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 10 | #3,237 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,753 | under 0.01 |
| 1923 | 5 | #5,329 | under 0.01 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,834 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,351 | under 0.01 |
| 1919 | 5 | #5,171 | under 0.01 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,905 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 7 | #3,731 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,613 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Karla a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Karla has been given almost only to girls: 309 boys in 108 years of records.
Girls and boys named Karla: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Karla, and how old are they?
84,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 91,895 Americans ever recorded as Karla. The median Karla alive today is 42 years old; half are between 24 and 60.
The 2020 Census counted 113,141 people named Karla (112,956 women and girls, 185 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 84,095 born in the U.S. The Census count is 35% 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 | 784 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 18,500 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 19,100 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 16,300 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 23,200 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,240 |
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 Karla born?
The states with the most babies named Karla are California, Texas and Illinois, with 39% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 17,762 | #638 | 1.7× |
| Texas | 12,197 | #565 | 1.7× |
| Illinois | 4,991 | #1,182 | 1.1× |
| New York | 3,639 | #745 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 3,141 | #1,355 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 2,965 | #562 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 2,632 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Iowa | 2,243 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Arizona | 2,191 | #500 | 1.6× |
| Indiana | 2,177 | #867 | 0.9× |
Where Karla is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Karla is most over-represented in South Dakota: since 1915 it was given 1.9 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 Karla 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 365,272 babies since 1880, Karla is the second most given (25% of them). In 2025 it was given to 340 of their 1,174 babies (29%), the 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 Karla
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 Karla and names like it
- Compare Karla and CarlaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sKarla peaked in 1964.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Karla since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Karla: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1964The year the most babies were named Karla.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Karla alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with KMost given first.