Karleen
A feminine name derived from the German name Karl meaning "free man".
Name Census estimates that about 1,865 living Americans carry the first name Karleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karleen today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karleen births was 1964 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karleen. 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 Karleen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 183,782 Americans
Peak year
1964
74 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,386
Tracked since 1914
Census
Karleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,325 people with the first name Karleen, which placed it at #6,781 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
#6,781
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,325 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karleen is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Karleen 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 Karleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.3% · 1,798
- Black or African American10.2% · 238
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 121
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 98
- Two or more races2.4% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 15
Popularity
Karleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karleen from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 538 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
Karleen 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 Karleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karleens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, New York, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Karleen, while Rhode Island, Ohio, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karleen
The name Karleen is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to the Germanic languages. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "karl," which meant "free man" or "husband." The name was popularized during the Middle Ages across various regions of Europe, particularly in areas with strong Germanic cultural influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Karleen can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from Germany dating back to the 8th century. In this text, the name appears as "Karlin," likely a precursor to the modern spelling of Karleen.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Karleen. One of the earliest recorded was Karleen von Habsburg (1457-1506), a German noblewoman who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Holy Roman Empire during the late 15th century.
In the realm of literature, Karleen Hildebrand (1876-1957) was a renowned German novelist and playwright. Her works, which often explored themes of love and societal constraints, were widely acclaimed during the early 20th century.
Karleen Wittgenstein (1882-1956), an Austrian-born philosopher, was a prominent figure in the field of logic and language. Her contributions to the development of analytic philosophy and her influence on the work of her brother, Ludwig Wittgenstein, have been widely recognized.
In the field of science, Karleen Curie (1867-1934) was a pioneering Polish physicist and chemist. She is renowned for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, becoming the first woman to receive this prestigious honor.
Lastly, Karleen von Bingen (1098-1179) was a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, and Christian mystic. Her profound influence on medieval Christian thought and her numerous works on subjects ranging from medicine to theology have earned her a place as one of the most influential figures of the 12th century.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Karleen throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence and significance across various cultural and intellectual realms.
People
Karleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karleen 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
Karleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,865 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karleen 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 183,782 US residents.
Is Karleen a common name?
We classify Karleen as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,766 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Karleen was 1964, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karleen is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,325 people with the name Karleen, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,781 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 Karleen 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 Karleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,325 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Karleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karleen is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Karleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.3% (1,798 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 Karleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karleen 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 Karleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karleen 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 Karleen 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 Karleen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.