Kaaren
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "pure" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 498 living Americans carry the first name Kaaren. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaaren today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaaren births was 1942 (191 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaaren. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Kaaren is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Kaarens were born before 1965.
People living today
498
~ 1 in 688,262 Americans
Peak year
1942
191 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1994 SSA rank
#14,439
Tracked since 1938
Census
Kaaren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 800 people with the first name Kaaren, which placed it at #14,659 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,659
National first-name rank
People counted
800
800 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaaren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaaren is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kaaren described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kaaren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 709
- Black or African American5.9% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 23
- Two or more races1.6% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Kaaren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaaren from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 558 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaaren by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kaaren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaarens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Kaaren, while Maryland, Utah, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaaren
The name Kaaren is of Scandinavian origin, deriving from the Old Norse word "kara," which means "the pure one." It is a feminine form of the name Kare, which was commonly used in medieval Scandinavia. The earliest recorded use of the name Kaaren can be traced back to the 13th century in Norway and Sweden.
In the Viking Age, the name Kaaren was often associated with purity, innocence, and virtue. It was a popular choice among Norse families who valued these qualities in their daughters. The name's connection to Norse mythology and the reverence for nature and purity in ancient Scandinavian cultures likely contributed to its widespread use.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Kaaren was Kaaren Magnusdotter, a Norwegian noblewoman who lived in the late 13th century. She was known for her involvement in political affairs and her influential role in Viking society.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kaaren gained popularity across Scandinavia and began to spread to other parts of Europe. In the 16th century, Kaaren Brahe, a Swedish countess and influential landowner, was a prominent figure who carried the name.
As the name traveled beyond its Nordic roots, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Karin, Karen, and Caren. In the 17th century, Kaaren Nansen, a Danish explorer and writer, made significant contributions to the literary world with her travelogues and memoirs.
In the 19th century, Kaaren Bjørnson, a Norwegian author and playwright, gained recognition for her works that explored themes of family, love, and social issues. Her plays and novels were widely celebrated in Scandinavia and beyond.
Another notable figure was Kaaren Grieg, a Norwegian composer and pianist who lived from 1888 to 1972. She played a significant role in promoting and preserving the works of her husband, the renowned composer Edvard Grieg, and contributed greatly to the development of Norwegian classical music.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kaaren. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, the name remains a testament to its rich Scandinavian heritage and the values of purity and virtue it once embodied.
People
Kaaren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaaren as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kaaren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaaren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 498 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaaren going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 688,262 US residents.
Is Kaaren a common name?
We classify Kaaren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 884 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaaren most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaaren was 1942, when 191 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaaren is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaaren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 800 people with the name Kaaren, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,659 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kaaren in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kaaren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaaren appears almost entirely female. Of the 794 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kaaren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaaren is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kaaren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaaren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (709 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kaaren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaaren a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaaren in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kaaren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaaren in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kaaren can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Kaaren?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.