Karalynn
Variant spelling of "Karalynn" combining "Karen" meaning pure and "Lynn" meaning lake.
Name Census estimates that about 740 living Americans carry the first name Karalynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karalynn today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karalynn births was 2010 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karalynn. 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.
People living today
740
~ 1 in 463,182 Americans
Peak year
2010
41 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,855
Tracked since 1963
Census
Karalynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 641 people with the first name Karalynn, which placed it at #17,282 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
#17,282
National first-name rank
People counted
641
641 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karalynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karalynn is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Karalynn 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 Karalynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 493
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 57
- Two or more races4.5% · 29
- Black or African American4.2% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 12
Popularity
Karalynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karalynn from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 251 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karalynn 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 Karalynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karalynns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Karalynn
The name Karalynn is a modern English variant of the Germanic name Karlynn, which is a feminine form derived from the masculine name Karl or Charles. The root of the name can be traced back to the Old English word "ceorl," meaning "free man" or "husbandman." It also has connections to the Old Norse word "karl," meaning "man" or "husband."
In its earliest form, Karlynn emerged in the Middle Ages, likely inspired by the popularity of the name Charles, which itself has roots in the Frankish Carolingian dynasty. The addition of the feminine suffix "-lynn" transformed the masculine name into a feminine form, creating a unique and distinctive name for girls.
While the name Karalynn does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its Germanic origins and connection to the name Charles lend it a sense of strength and nobility. The earliest recorded examples of the spelling "Karalynn" date back to the late 20th century, reflecting its relatively modern popularity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne variations of the name Karlynn or Karalynn. One example is Karlynn Shipbaugh (born 1957), an American singer and songwriter known for her work in the country music genre. Another is Karlynn BamBridge (born 1982), a Canadian actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films.
Karlynn Maloney (born 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who competed in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Karlynn Zumbrunn (born 1975) is a former American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Detroit Shock and the Seattle Storm.
Lastly, Karlynn N. Lewis (born 1968) is an American author and educator known for her work on diversity and inclusion in children's literature.
While the name Karalynn may not have a long and storied history, its Germanic roots and modern variants reflect a blend of strength, femininity, and individuality, making it a unique and meaningful choice for parents seeking a distinctive name for their daughter.
People
Karalynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karalynn 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
Karalynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karalynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 740 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karalynn 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 463,182 US residents.
Is Karalynn a common name?
We classify Karalynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 758 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karalynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Karalynn was 2010, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karalynn is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karalynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 641 people with the name Karalynn, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,282 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 Karalynn 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 Karalynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karalynn appears almost entirely female. Of the 642 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Karalynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karalynn is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Karalynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karalynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (493 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 Karalynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karalynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karalynn 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 Karalynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karalynn 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 Karalynn 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 called Karalynn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.