Karin
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "pure and lovely".
Name Census estimates that about 22,570 living Americans carry the first name Karin. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Karin today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karin births was 1970 (1,051 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karin. 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 Karin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Karin is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 193 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 15,186 Americans
Peak year
1970
1,051 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,149
Tracked since 1907
Census
Karin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 34,534 people with the first name Karin, which placed it at #1,150 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
#1,150
National first-name rank
People counted
35K
34,534 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
11.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karin is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Karin 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 Karin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.5% · 29,538
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 2,386
- Black or African American2.7% · 941
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 861
- Two or more races2.1% · 711
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 97
Gender
Gender distribution for Karin
Out of the 28,725 babies given the name Karin since 1880, 99.3% 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.
Karin as a male name
- Ranked #9,393 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (15 births)
Karin as a female name
- Ranked #8,149 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (1,051 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karin appears almost entirely female. Of the 34,535 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Karin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karin from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 8,796 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Karin 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 Karin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Karin, while Alaska, Mississippi, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 512 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karin
The name Karin is a Scandinavian variant of the name Karen, which has its roots in the ancient Germanic language. It is derived from the feminine form of the word "kar," which means "pure" or "beloved." The name gained popularity across Northern Europe during the Middle Ages.
In Old Norse literature, the name Karin is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, where it was often given to female characters known for their beauty and virtuous nature. One notable example is Karin Manvithsdotter, a legendary Swedish noblewoman from the 13th century, who was renowned for her wisdom and courage.
The earliest recorded use of the name Karin dates back to the 12th century in Sweden and Denmark. During the Viking Age, it was a common name among Scandinavian women, particularly in Norway and Iceland.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Karin. One of the most famous was Karin Månsdotter, a Swedish Queen consort who lived in the 15th century. She was known for her political influence and her role in promoting the arts and culture during her husband's reign.
Another notable Karin was Karin Boye, a Swedish poet and novelist who lived from 1900 to 1941. She was a prominent figure in the literary world and is considered one of the most influential Swedish writers of the 20th century.
In the realm of science, Karin Boye also shares her name with Karin Mölling, a German virologist who made significant contributions to the study of retroviruses and their role in cancer development. She lived from 1943 to 2017.
Moving to the world of sports, Karin Svensson was a Swedish swimmer who won multiple medals at the Olympic Games in the 1970s. She was a dominant force in the pool and held several world records during her career.
Finally, Karin Kneffel is a contemporary German artist known for her large-scale paintings and installations. Born in 1957, she has gained international recognition for her unique artistic style and her exploration of themes related to memory and perception.
People
Karin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karin 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
Karin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22,570 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karin 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 15,186 US residents.
Is Karin a common name?
We classify Karin as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 28,725 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karin most popular?
The single biggest year for Karin was 1970, when 1,051 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karin 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 Karin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 34,534 people with the name Karin, or 11.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,150 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 Karin 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 Karin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karin appears almost entirely female. Of the 34,535 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Karin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karin is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Karin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (29,538 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 Karin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karin a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Karin 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 Karin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karin 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 Karin 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 have Karin as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Karin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.