Karyne
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly related to the name Carine.
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Karyne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karyne today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karyne births was 1963 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karyne. 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 Karyne. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1963
6 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2000 SSA rank
#16,253
Tracked since 1949
Census
Karyne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 219 people with the first name Karyne, which placed it at #36,320 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
#36,320
National first-name rank
People counted
219
219 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karyne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karyne is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Hispanic (17.4%). 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 Karyne 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 Karyne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.3% · 119
- Black or African American24.2% · 53
- Hispanic or Latino17.4% · 38
- Two or more races3.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Karyne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karyne from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karyne 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 Karyne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karyne
The name Karyne has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the word "Karina," which means "pure" or "innocent." This name first appeared during the ancient Greek period, around the 5th century BC, and was primarily used in regions that were influenced by Greek culture, such as Greece itself, parts of modern-day Turkey, and some areas of the Mediterranean.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Karyne can be found in ancient Greek literature, particularly in the works of the renowned playwright Euripides. In his tragedy "Iphigenia in Aulis," written around 408 BC, a character named Karyne is mentioned, though her role is relatively minor.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Karyne. One of the most prominent was Karyne of Heraclea (c. 350 BC - 285 BC), a Greek philosopher and mathematician from the city of Heraclea Pontica, located in modern-day Turkey. She was a student of Plato and is credited with contributing to the development of geometry and number theory.
Another historical figure with the name Karyne was Karyne of Alexandria (c. 200 AD - 270 AD), a scholar and teacher who lived during the Roman era. She is known for her work in translating and preserving ancient Greek texts, and she is believed to have played a significant role in the establishment of the famous Library of Alexandria.
In the Middle Ages, the name Karyne was occasionally used in various parts of Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences. One example is Karyne of Constantinople (c. 1050 - 1120), a Byzantine noblewoman and patron of the arts who sponsored the construction of several churches and monasteries in the city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
During the Renaissance period, the name Karyne experienced a resurgence in popularity, especially among intellectual circles. One notable figure from this era was Karyne Renaissant (c. 1460 - 1525), an Italian humanist scholar and poet who was renowned for her works in both Latin and Greek.
It is worth noting that while the name Karyne has ancient Greek roots, it has been adapted and used in various cultures and languages over the centuries, sometimes with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation. However, the core meaning and essence of the name, which conveys purity and innocence, have remained consistent throughout its long history.
People
Karyne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karyne 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
Karyne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karyne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karyne 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Karyne a common name?
We classify Karyne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karyne most popular?
The single biggest year for Karyne was 1963, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karyne is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karyne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 219 people with the name Karyne, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,320 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 Karyne 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 Karyne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karyne appears almost entirely female. Of the 222 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Karyne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karyne is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Hispanic (17.4%). 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 Karyne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karyne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.3% (119 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 Karyne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karyne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karyne 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 Karyne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karyne 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 Karyne 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 Karyne?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.