Karna
A masculine name of Hindu mythology meaning "the one having ears".
Name Census estimates that about 400 living Americans carry the first name Karna. It is a predominantly female name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Karna today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karna births was 1970 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karna. 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 Karna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
400
~ 1 in 856,886 Americans
Peak year
1970
30 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2000 SSA rank
#9,714
Tracked since 1930
Census
Karna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,043 people with the first name Karna, which placed it at #12,065 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
#12,065
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,043 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karna is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (44.2%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Karna 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 Karna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.7% · 477
- Asian and Pacific Islander44.2% · 461
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 47
- Black or African American3.4% · 35
- Two or more races2.0% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Karna
Karna leans heavily female at 98.9% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Karna as a male name
- Ranked #9,714 in 2000
- 6 male births in 2000
- Peak: 2000 (6 births)
Karna as a female name
- Ranked #11,466 in 1985
- 5 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1970 (30 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Karna on both sides of the split. Of the 1,047 people counted with this name, 391 were male (37.3%) and 656 were female (62.7%).
Popularity
Karna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karna from the 1930s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 166 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
Karna 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 Karna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Illinois recorded the most babies named Karna, while Illinois, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karna
The name Karna originates from Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. It is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "karna," which means "ear" or "having large ears." The name can be traced back to the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE.
In the Mahabharata, Karna is the name of one of the central characters, a tragic hero who was born to the Sun God Surya and the princess Kunti. Despite being a skilled warrior and a loyal friend, Karna's life was marked by suffering and misfortune due to his illegitimate birth and the circumstances surrounding it.
The earliest recorded use of the name Karna can be found in the Mahabharata itself, where it is mentioned numerous times throughout the epic. Over the centuries, the name has been popular among Hindus, particularly in India, and has been carried by several notable historical figures.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Karna was Karna Malla, a ruler of the Malla dynasty who reigned in the Kathmandu Valley (now part of Nepal) in the 12th century CE. Another famous Karna was Karna Tapa, a Bengali poet and philosopher who lived in the 16th century and wrote several works on Tantra and Vaishnavism.
In more recent history, Karna Bahadur Kunwar was a Nepalese military leader who played a significant role in the Nepali-Tibetan War of 1855-1856. He was awarded the title of "Shumsher Jung Kunwar" for his bravery and military leadership.
Another notable figure named Karna was Karna Singh, a prominent Rajput ruler who served as the Raja of Bikaner (in present-day Rajasthan, India) from 1638 to 1667. He was known for his military campaigns and for expanding the territory of his kingdom.
In the 20th century, Karna Bahadur Basnyat was a Nepalese politician and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Nepal from 1957 to 1959. He played a crucial role in the democratization of Nepal and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.
While the name Karna has its roots in Hindu mythology and Sanskrit, it has transcended its cultural and linguistic boundaries and has been adopted by people from various backgrounds around the world, particularly in South Asia and among the Indian diaspora.
People
Karna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karna 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
Karna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 400 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karna 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 856,886 US residents.
Is Karna a common name?
We classify Karna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 529 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karna most popular?
The single biggest year for Karna was 1970, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karna is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,043 people with the name Karna, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,065 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 Karna 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 Karna?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Karna on both sides of the split. Of the 1,047 people counted with this name, 391 were male (37.3%) and 656 were female (62.7%). 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 Karna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karna is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (44.2%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Karna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (477 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 Karna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karna a female name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Karna 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 Karna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karna 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 Karna 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 Karna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Karna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.