Karolyn
Karolyn was given to 18 girls in 2025, #6,435 among girls’ names; 5,957 Americans have been recorded with it since 1912 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 4,510 Americans named Karolyn and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (76% of everyone recorded); the median is 57 years old and half are between 36 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Karolyn by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Karolyn?
#6,435 among girls’ names, 2025
Karolyn fell from #6,342 in 2015 to #6,435 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born held at 11.2 per million.
167 babies in 1946, the peak
Karolyn peaked in 1946, when 167 girls were given it, #614 among girls’ names. The 18 births of 2025 are 11% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18 | #6,435 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 22 | #5,702 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 15 | #7,440 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 23 | #5,547 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 16 | #7,100 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 17 | #6,768 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 13 | #8,357 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 36 | #4,032 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 27 | #4,992 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 24 | #5,529 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (113)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 20 | #6,342 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 30 | #4,706 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 32 | #4,486 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 25 | #5,473 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 19 | #6,715 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 26 | #5,321 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 29 | #5,008 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 28 | #5,207 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 44 | #3,682 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 38 | #3,957 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 44 | #3,433 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 40 | #3,661 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 31 | #4,256 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 32 | #4,028 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 42 | #3,274 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 32 | #3,930 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 37 | #3,398 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 32 | #3,682 | 0.02 |
| 1997 | 52 | #2,491 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 37 | #3,178 | 0.02 |
| 1995 | 50 | #2,529 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 49 | #2,557 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 48 | #2,579 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 63 | #2,137 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 44 | #2,707 | 0.02 |
| 1990 | 56 | #2,266 | 0.03 |
| 1989 | 55 | #2,201 | 0.03 |
| 1988 | 45 | #2,421 | 0.03 |
| 1987 | 53 | #2,079 | 0.03 |
| 1986 | 39 | #2,537 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 48 | #2,192 | 0.03 |
| 1984 | 40 | #2,400 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 43 | #2,251 | 0.03 |
| 1982 | 53 | #1,974 | 0.03 |
| 1981 | 55 | #1,944 | 0.03 |
| 1980 | 39 | #2,459 | 0.02 |
| 1979 | 54 | #1,931 | 0.03 |
| 1978 | 56 | #1,809 | 0.04 |
| 1977 | 78 | #1,435 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 70 | #1,486 | 0.05 |
| 1975 | 62 | #1,595 | 0.04 |
| 1974 | 63 | #1,540 | 0.04 |
| 1973 | 53 | #1,695 | 0.04 |
| 1972 | 63 | #1,507 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 71 | #1,458 | 0.04 |
| 1970 | 81 | #1,318 | 0.05 |
| 1969 | 84 | #1,221 | 0.05 |
| 1968 | 72 | #1,305 | 0.04 |
| 1967 | 72 | #1,272 | 0.04 |
| 1966 | 89 | #1,124 | 0.05 |
| 1965 | 109 | #997 | 0.06 |
| 1964 | 92 | #1,149 | 0.05 |
| 1963 | 77 | #1,255 | 0.04 |
| 1962 | 106 | #1,051 | 0.05 |
| 1961 | 98 | #1,113 | 0.05 |
| 1960 | 70 | #1,319 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 65 | #1,330 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 74 | #1,235 | 0.04 |
| 1957 | 90 | #1,101 | 0.04 |
| 1956 | 64 | #1,303 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 60 | #1,303 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 73 | #1,170 | 0.04 |
| 1953 | 79 | #1,084 | 0.04 |
| 1952 | 97 | #948 | 0.05 |
| 1951 | 97 | #939 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 92 | #929 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 114 | #820 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 122 | #776 | 0.07 |
| 1947 | 148 | #693 | 0.08 |
| 1946 | 167 | #614 | 0.11 |
| 1945 | 132 | #635 | 0.10 |
| 1944 | 133 | #637 | 0.10 |
| 1943 | 154 | #610 | 0.11 |
| 1942 | 129 | #659 | 0.10 |
| 1941 | 149 | #571 | 0.12 |
| 1940 | 107 | #671 | 0.09 |
| 1939 | 105 | #664 | 0.10 |
| 1938 | 79 | #797 | 0.07 |
| 1937 | 65 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1936 | 42 | #1,093 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 41 | #1,091 | 0.04 |
| 1934 | 45 | #1,039 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 32 | #1,277 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 25 | #1,546 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 21 | #1,712 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 17 | #2,067 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,538 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 13 | #2,557 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,781 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 18 | #2,119 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 11 | #3,036 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 14 | #2,598 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 13 | #2,659 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 7 | #4,230 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 6 | #4,773 | under 0.01 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,467 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 6 | #4,520 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 13 | #2,593 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 5 | #4,941 | under 0.01 |
| 1916 | 6 | #4,146 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 6 | #4,013 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 5 | #3,431 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,798 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Karolyn a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Karolyn has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 113 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Karolyn: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Karolyn, and how old are they?
4,510 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 76% of the 5,957 Americans ever recorded as Karolyn. The median Karolyn alive today is 57 years old; half are between 36 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 4,936 people named Karolyn (4,933 women and girls, 3 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 4,800 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 533 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,350 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,030 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 756 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 545 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 291 |
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 Karolyn born?
The states with the most babies named Karolyn are California, Texas and Michigan, with 42% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 445 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Texas | 272 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 249 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| New York | 228 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Iowa | 169 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Illinois | 156 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 136 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Kansas | 113 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Wisconsin | 71 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Oklahoma | 60 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Karolyn is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Karolyn is most over-represented in Iowa: since 1912 it was given 1.8 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 Karolyn with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
How common is the spelling Karolyn?
Karolyn is a less common spelling of Carolyn: SSA has recorded 5,957 Karolyn and 558,397 Carolyn since 1880.
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 581,576 babies since 1880, Karolyn is the third most given (1.0% of them). In 2025 it was given to 18 of their 294 babies (6.1%), again the third most given.
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 Karolyn
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 Karolyn and names like it
- Compare Karolyn and CarolynBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sKarolyn peaked in 1946.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Karolyn since 1910.
- The top names of 1946The year the most babies were named Karolyn.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Karolyn alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.