Karrin
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "berry druid" or "druid of the woods".
Name Census estimates that about 333 living Americans carry the first name Karrin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Karrin today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karrin births was 1990 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karrin. 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.
People living today
333
~ 1 in 1,029,292 Americans
Peak year
1990
16 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2012 SSA rank
#18,180
Tracked since 1950
Census
Karrin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 427 people with the first name Karrin, which placed it at #23,071 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
#23,071
National first-name rank
People counted
427
427 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karrin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karrin is White at 72.6%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Karrin 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 Karrin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.6% · 310
- Black or African American15.2% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 26
- Two or more races4.2% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Popularity
Karrin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karrin from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 84 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
Karrin 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 Karrin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karrins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Karrin
The name Karrin has its roots in the ancient Germanic languages, tracing back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old High German word "kara," which means "beloved" or "dear one." The name was particularly popular among the Frankish tribes that inhabited modern-day Germany and France during the early medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Karrin can be found in the Frankish Annals, a historical chronicle detailing the reign of the Merovingian dynasty. The annals mention a noblewoman named Karrin, who lived in the 7th century and was known for her charitable works and devotion to the church.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Karrin was widely used across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Germanic culture. It can be found in various medieval manuscripts and records, often associated with women of noble or religious standing.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Karrin was Karrin of Zweibrücken, a 13th-century German noblewoman and abbess of the Benedictine convent in Zweibrücken. She was renowned for her piety and leadership, and her life was documented in the annals of the convent.
Another notable Karrin was Karrin of Münsterberg, a 15th-century Silesian princess and patron of the arts. She played a significant role in the cultural and intellectual life of her time, sponsoring artists, poets, and scholars at her court.
In the realm of literature, the name Karrin appears in the Middle High German epic poem "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The poem, written in the early 13th century, features a character named Karrin, who serves as a guide and mentor to the protagonist.
Moving into the early modern period, one notable figure was Karrin Gyllenstierna, a 16th-century Swedish noblewoman and political figure. She played a crucial role in the struggle for power during the Swedish War of Liberation against Denmark, and her efforts were instrumental in securing Sweden's independence.
Another significant historical figure was Karrin von Arnim, a 19th-century German writer and pioneering figure in the early feminist movement. Born in 1782, she was known for her literary works, which often explored themes of women's rights and societal norms.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Karrin, a name steeped in Germanic heritage and carrying connotations of endearment and nobility.
People
Karrin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karrin 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
Karrin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karrin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 333 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karrin 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 1,029,292 US residents.
Is Karrin a common name?
We classify Karrin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 367 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karrin most popular?
The single biggest year for Karrin was 1990, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karrin is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karrin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 427 people with the name Karrin, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,071 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 Karrin 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 Karrin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Karrin leans strongly female. 416 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Karrin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karrin is White at 72.6%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Karrin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karrin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.6% (310 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 Karrin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karrin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Karrin 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 Karrin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karrin 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 Karrin 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 Karrin as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Karrin, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.