Karinn
A diminutive of Karen, derived from the Greek word meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Karinn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karinn today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karinn births was 1982 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karinn. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Karinn. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1982
8 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1982 SSA rank
#7,788
Tracked since 1982
Popularity
Karinn: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Karinn 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 Karinn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Karinn
The given name Karinn has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the ancient Germanic peoples of Scandinavia and their descendants from around the 8th to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old Norse word "karl," which means "man" or "free man." The name was initially used as a masculine name in the Viking era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Karinn can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of historical narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas documented the lives and adventures of prominent Icelandic families and their ancestors, many of whom bore the name Karinn.
In the 10th century, a prominent Viking warrior named Karinn Þorleifsson is mentioned in the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), which chronicles the settlement of Iceland by Norse explorers. Karinn Þorleifsson was known for his bravery and leadership during the Viking Age.
Another notable figure with the name Karinn was Karinn Njálsson, who lived in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. He was a prominent chieftain and a central character in the Icelandic saga Njáls saga, considered one of the greatest works of medieval Icelandic literature.
During the Middle Ages, the name Karinn spread to other parts of Scandinavia and was adopted by people of various social classes. In Norway, a wealthy landowner and chieftain named Karinn Erlingsson lived in the 12th century and played a significant role in Norwegian politics during the civil war era.
In Sweden, a notable bearer of the name was Karinn Svensson, a 13th-century Cistercian monk and the first abbot of the Alvastra Abbey, one of the most prominent monasteries in medieval Sweden.
Over time, the name Karinn evolved into various spellings and variations, such as Karen, Karin, Karina, and Carina, and became popular across different cultures and regions. However, the original Old Norse form, Karinn, remains an important part of Scandinavian cultural heritage and a reminder of the rich Viking history.
People
Karinn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karinn 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
Karinn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karinn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karinn 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Karinn a common name?
We classify Karinn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karinn most popular?
The single biggest year for Karinn was 1982, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karinn is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Karinn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karinn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karinn 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 Karinn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karinn 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 Karinn 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Karinn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Karinn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.