Karina
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "pure" or "loved one".
Name Census estimates that about 59,428 living Americans carry the first name Karina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karina today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karina births was 1995 (3,001 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karina. 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 Karina with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Karina is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 253 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
59K
~ 1 in 5,768 Americans
Peak year
1995
3,001 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2001 SSA rank
#774
Tracked since 1956
Census
Karina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 78,584 people with the first name Karina, which placed it at #671 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
#671
National first-name rank
People counted
79K
78,584 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
26.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
77.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karina is Hispanic at 77.7%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.0%). 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 Karina 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 Karina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino77.7% · 61,042
- White15.7% · 12,311
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 2,381
- Two or more races1.8% · 1,381
- Black or African American1.7% · 1,334
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 135
Gender
Gender distribution for Karina
Out of the 61,350 babies given the name Karina since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Karina as a male name
- Ranked #11,479 in 2001
- 5 male births in 2001
- Peak: 1989 (21 births)
Karina as a female name
- Ranked #774 in 2024
- 363 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (2,985 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karina appears almost entirely female. Of the 78,579 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Karina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karina from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 22,724 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karina 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 Karina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Karina, while New Hampshire, Hawaii, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,360 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karina
The name Karina has its origins in the Greek language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "kara," meaning "beloved" or "pure." The name was initially popularized in Greece and neighboring regions influenced by Greek culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Karina can be found in ancient Greek literature, where it was used as a character name in various writings and plays. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until later centuries.
During the Byzantine era, the name Karina was occasionally used among Greek-speaking populations, though it remained relatively uncommon. It was not until the Middle Ages that the name began to spread more widely across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences or connections to the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Karina of Ancona, an Italian nun and mystic, was born in the town of Ancona, Italy. Her life and writings contributed to the dissemination of the name in certain parts of Italy and neighboring regions.
Another historical figure with the name Karina was Karina Mikhailovna, a Russian noble and courtier who lived in the 16th century during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. She was known for her involvement in court intrigues and political affairs.
In the 17th century, Karina von Rittberg, a German noblewoman and landowner, played a significant role in the development of her family's estates and lands. Her name served as an example of the name's usage in Germanic regions.
During the 19th century, the name Karina gained further popularity in various parts of Europe, particularly in Eastern and Southern European countries. One notable bearer of the name was Karina Miloradovich, a Serbian writer and poet who lived from 1837 to 1894 and contributed to the cultural and literary landscape of her time.
Throughout history, the name Karina has appeared in various forms and spellings, such as Carina, Karine, and Caryna, reflecting the linguistic and cultural influences of different regions. While its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, the name has since spread and been embraced across various cultures and societies.
People
Karina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karina 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
Karina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 59,428 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karina 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 5,768 US residents.
Is Karina a common name?
We classify Karina as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61,350 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karina most popular?
The single biggest year for Karina was 1995, when 3,001 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karina is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 78,584 people with the name Karina, or 26.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #671 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 Karina 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 Karina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karina appears almost entirely female. Of the 78,579 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Karina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karina is Hispanic at 77.7%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.0%). 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 Karina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Karina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.7% (61,042 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 Karina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karina a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Karina 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 Karina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karina 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 Karina 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 Karina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.