Caren
A feminine name derived from the Greek name Katerina, meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 7,451 living Americans carry the first name Caren. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caren today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caren births was 1957 (388 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caren. 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 Caren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.5K
~ 1 in 46,001 Americans
Peak year
1957
388 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,152
Tracked since 1925
Census
Caren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,312 people with the first name Caren, which placed it at #2,581 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
#2,581
National first-name rank
People counted
9.3K
9,312 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caren is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Caren 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 Caren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.8% · 7,062
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 1,084
- Black or African American6.8% · 631
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 295
- Two or more races2.3% · 212
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 28
Popularity
Caren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caren from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 2,683 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caren 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 Caren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Caren, while South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 196 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caren
The name Caren is believed to have originated from the Hebrew name Karen, which is a variant of the biblical name Keren. In the Old Testament, Keren is mentioned as one of the wives of Nahor, Abraham's brother. The name Keren is derived from the Hebrew word "qeren," which means "ray of light" or "horn."
The earliest recorded use of the name Caren dates back to the 17th century in Europe. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Caren Andersdotter, a Swedish woman born in 1618 who lived in the village of Västra Vemmenhög. Historical records also mention a woman named Caren Helsingius, born in 1645 in Lund, Sweden.
In the 18th century, the name Caren was relatively uncommon but can be found in historical records from various parts of Europe. One notable figure was Caren Maartens, a Dutch woman born in 1728 who became a prominent businesswoman in Amsterdam.
The 19th century saw an increase in the popularity of the name Caren, particularly in Scandinavia and parts of Germany. One famous bearer of the name was Caren Mikhailovna Vernet, a Russian noble and philanthropist born in 1841. She was known for her charitable work and support of education initiatives in St. Petersburg.
In the 20th century, the name Caren gained wider recognition and usage in various parts of the world. One of the most notable individuals with this name was Caren MarshИон, an American actress and dancer born in 1918. She appeared in several Broadway productions and Hollywood films during the 1940s and 1950s.
Another prominent figure was Caren Toksvig, a British writer, comedian, and broadcaster born in 1958. She has authored numerous books and has been a regular presence on British television for several decades.
It's worth noting that while the name Caren has been used throughout history, it has never been among the most popular names in any particular region or time period. However, it has maintained a consistent presence, particularly in parts of Europe and North America, and continues to be used as a given name today.
People
Caren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caren as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Caren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,451 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caren 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 46,001 US residents.
Is Caren a common name?
We classify Caren as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,560 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caren most popular?
The single biggest year for Caren was 1957, when 388 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caren is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,312 people with the name Caren, or 3.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,581 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 Caren 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 Caren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caren appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,317 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Caren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caren is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Caren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.8% (7,062 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 Caren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caren a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caren 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 Caren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caren 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 Caren 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 share the name Caren?
Want to know how many people share the name Caren? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.