Karri
A feminine nature name referring to the Karri tree native to Western Australia.
Name Census estimates that about 4,014 living Americans carry the first name Karri. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karri today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karri births was 1976 (202 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karri. 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 Karri with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 85,390 Americans
Peak year
1976
202 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,583
Tracked since 1953
Census
Karri in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,054 people with the first name Karri, which placed it at #4,546 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
#4,546
National first-name rank
People counted
4.1K
4,054 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karri
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karri is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Karri 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 Karri at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.7% · 3,556
- Black or African American4.0% · 161
- Two or more races3.9% · 160
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 89
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 38
Popularity
Karri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karri from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,692 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karri 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 Karri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Karri, while Utah, South Dakota, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karri
The name Karri has its origins in the Finnish language and culture. It is derived from the Finnish word "kari," which means "rocky land" or "rocky islet." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals living in or near rocky or mountainous regions of Finland.
The name Karri can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Finland, where it was used as a masculine given name. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name appear in Finnish historical records and documents from the 13th and 14th centuries.
In Finnish mythology and folklore, Karri is also the name of a legendary hero or figure associated with strength, courage, and resilience. This mythological connection may have contributed to the popularity of the name among Finnish families.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Karri was Karri Antinpoika, a Finnish farmer and landowner who lived in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Karri Arvinpoika, a Finnish military commander and leader during the 16th century Swedish-Finnish wars.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Karri became more widespread across Finland, with several prominent individuals bearing the name. For example, Karri Eerikkinpoika (1620-1688) was a Finnish clergyman and author, while Karri Jaakonpoika (1680-1752) was a renowned Finnish architect and builder.
In the 19th century, Karri Kustaa Idestam (1837-1916) was a Finnish businessman and industrialist who played a significant role in the development of the Finnish paper industry. Karri Manner (1885-1924) was a Finnish athlete and Olympic gold medalist in wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
Moving into the 20th century, Karri Nurminen (1905-1988) was a Finnish writer and poet known for his works exploring Finnish rural life and traditions. Karri Pentti Miettinen (1927-2009) was a Finnish politician and diplomat who served as Finland's ambassador to several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
While the name Karri has maintained its cultural significance in Finland, it has also gained some international recognition, particularly in the fields of sports and entertainment. However, its usage and popularity outside of Finland remain relatively limited compared to its homeland.
People
Karri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karri 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
Karri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,014 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karri 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 85,390 US residents.
Is Karri a common name?
We classify Karri as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,485 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karri most popular?
The single biggest year for Karri was 1976, when 202 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karri is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karri in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,054 people with the name Karri, or 1.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,546 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 Karri 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 Karri?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karri leans strongly female. 3,990 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 62 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Karri?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karri is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Karri most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karri in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.7% (3,556 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 Karri in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karri a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karri 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 Karri still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karri 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 Karri 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 common is the name Karri?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Karri at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.