Karrie
Feminine variation of Carrie, a shortened form of Caroline from Latin origin meaning "free woman".
Name Census estimates that about 8,767 living Americans carry the first name Karrie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karrie today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karrie births was 1977 (505 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karrie. 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 Karrie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.8K
~ 1 in 39,096 Americans
Peak year
1977
505 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,584
Tracked since 1936
Census
Karrie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,844 people with the first name Karrie, which placed it at #2,662 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
#2,662
National first-name rank
People counted
8.8K
8,844 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karrie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karrie is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (3.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Karrie 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 Karrie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 7,703
- Black or African American3.8% · 337
- Two or more races3.2% · 284
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 281
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 130
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 109
Popularity
Karrie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karrie from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 4,040 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
Karrie 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 Karrie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karries live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Michigan, Illinois recorded the most babies named Karrie, while New Hampshire, South Carolina, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 178 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karrie
The name Karrie is a feminine form of the name Karr, which has its origins in the Old Norse language. The name Karr is derived from the Norse word "karr," meaning "warrior" or "man." It is believed to have originated in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Karrie can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of literary works from the 13th century. In these sagas, the name Karr is mentioned as a personal name borne by several characters, indicating its usage and popularity during that time period.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations and adaptations. In England, the name Karrie emerged as a feminine form, likely influenced by the French spelling "Carrie." This variation gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly among the English nobility.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Karrie was Karrie de Vere, born in 1372, who was a member of the influential de Vere family and held significant land and titles in medieval England. Another early recorded example is Karrie of Brittany, a 14th-century noblewoman who played a role in the Breton War of Succession.
In the 16th century, the name Karrie appeared in the works of William Shakespeare, specifically in his play "Henry VI, Part 2." One of the characters, a soldier, is referred to as Karrie. This literary reference further solidified the name's presence in English culture during the Renaissance period.
Moving forward in history, Karrie von Musser, born in 1684, was a renowned German painter known for her portraits and landscapes. Her artistic contributions helped establish the name's association with creativity and the arts.
In the 19th century, Karrie Amelia Nation, born in 1846, was an American radical member of the temperance movement. She gained notoriety for her militant actions against the alcohol industry, including vandalizing saloons with a hatchet, earning her the nickname "Carrie Nation."
These examples showcase the name Karrie's enduring presence throughout history, spanning various cultures and eras. While its origins can be traced back to the Norse language, the name has evolved and adapted, reflecting its journey across time and regions.
People
Karrie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karrie 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
Karrie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karrie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,767 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karrie 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 39,096 US residents.
Is Karrie a common name?
We classify Karrie as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,863 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karrie most popular?
The single biggest year for Karrie was 1977, when 505 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karrie is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karrie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,844 people with the name Karrie, or 2.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,662 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 Karrie 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 Karrie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karrie appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,839 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 Karrie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karrie is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (3.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Karrie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karrie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (7,703 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 Karrie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karrie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karrie 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 Karrie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karrie 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 Karrie 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 the name Karrie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.