Karam
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "generosity", "honor", or "nobility".
Name Census estimates that about 1,511 living Americans carry the first name Karam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Karam today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karam births was 2024 (137 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karam. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Karam with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Karam is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 226,839 Americans
Peak year
2024
137 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,370
Tracked since 1977
Census
Karam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,813 people with the first name Karam, which placed it at #8,099 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
#8,099
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,813 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karam is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Karam 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 Karam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 1,313
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.9% · 343
- Two or more races4.1% · 75
- Black or African American3.2% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Karam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karam from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 699 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Karam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karam 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 Karam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karams live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Karam, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karam
The name Karam has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, with a history that can be traced back to ancient times. The word "karam" in Arabic means generosity, nobility, and magnanimity, reflecting the virtues associated with this name.
In the Islamic tradition, the concept of karam is highly revered and considered an essential quality for a person of faith. The name Karam can be found in various Islamic texts and historical records, often used to describe individuals who embodied these noble traits.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Karam dates back to the 7th century CE, during the early years of the Islamic era. Karam ibn al-Harith was a prominent companion of the Prophet Muhammad and is remembered for his generosity and commitment to the faith.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Karam. In the 12th century, Karam Khan was a revered Sufi saint and scholar from present-day Afghanistan. His teachings and writings on spirituality and wisdom have left a lasting impact on Islamic mysticism.
During the Mamluk period in Egypt, Karam al-Din al-Kabir (1456-1535) was a renowned historian and scholar who contributed significantly to the preservation of historical records and literary works from that era.
In more recent times, Karam Chand Thapar (1904-1984) was an influential Indian industrialist and philanthropist, known for his contributions to the business and social sectors of the country.
Another notable figure was Karam Masih (1920-1992), a Pakistani Christian who played a pivotal role in promoting interfaith harmony and advocating for the rights of religious minorities in the region.
The name Karam has transcended its Arabic roots and has been embraced by various cultures and communities around the world, often carrying the same connotations of generosity, nobility, and kindness.
People
Karam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karam 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
Karam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,511 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karam 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 226,839 US residents.
Is Karam a common name?
We classify Karam as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karam most popular?
The single biggest year for Karam was 2024, when 137 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karam is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,813 people with the name Karam, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,099 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 Karam 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 Karam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karam leans strongly male. 1,656 people counted with this name were male (91.6%), compared with 152 female bearers (8.4%). 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 Karam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karam is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Karam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (1,313 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 Karam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karam in the SSA data are male. 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 Karam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karam 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 Karam 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 Karam?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.