Karry
A variant spelling of the masculine name Kerry, of Irish origin meaning "dark one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,593 living Americans carry the first name Karry. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 64.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Karry today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Karry births was 1971 (76 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Karry. 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.
Key insights
- • Karry sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 215,163 Americans
Peak year
1971
76 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2019 SSA rank
#11,457
Tracked since 1934
Census
Karry in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,818 people with the first name Karry, which placed it at #8,087 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
#8,087
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,818 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karry
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karry is White at 72.6%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.0%). 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 Karry 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 Karry at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.6% · 1,319
- Black or African American13.0% · 236
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 80
- Two or more races3.7% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Karry
Karry is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,848 total registrations, 648 (35.1%) were male and 1,200 (64.9%) were female.
Karry as a male name
- Ranked #11,457 in 2019
- 6 male births in 2019
- Peak: 1960 (35 births)
Karry as a female name
- Ranked #17,840 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1971 (60 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Karry on both sides of the split. Of the 1,816 people counted with this name, 565 were male (31.1%) and 1,251 were female (68.9%).
Popularity
Karry: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Karry from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 545 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
Karry 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 Karry during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Karrys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Michigan, Illinois recorded the most babies named Karry, while Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Karry
The name Karry originates from the ancient Celtic language and culture, dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is believed to have derived from the Celtic word "carra," which means "loved one" or "beloved." The name was initially popular among the Gaulish tribes that inhabited parts of modern-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland.
During the Roman conquest of Gaul in the 1st century BCE, the name Karry was recorded in several ancient texts and inscriptions. One notable reference can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, who mentioned a Gaulish chieftain named Karry leading a revolt against the Roman legions.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Karry dates back to the 3rd century CE, when a Christian martyr named Karry was mentioned in the acts of the early Church. This martyr was said to have been executed during the Diocletian persecutions in Rome for refusing to renounce his faith.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Karry was relatively obscure but remained in use among certain Celtic communities. One notable bearer of the name was Karry of Argyll, a Scottish chieftain who lived in the 12th century and played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against the English.
In the 16th century, a French explorer named Karry Cartier is recorded as the first European to have explored and mapped the St. Lawrence River in present-day Canada. His expeditions paved the way for the French colonization of the region.
Another famous figure with the name Karry was an Irish revolutionary named Karry O'Donnell, who lived in the late 18th century and fought against the British rule in Ireland. He was a prominent leader in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and was eventually captured and executed by the British.
One of the most recent notable individuals with the name Karry was a British actor named Karry Grant, who was born in 1904 and had a successful career in Hollywood during the mid-20th century. He starred in numerous classic films, including "Notorious," "North by Northwest," and "Charade."
People
Karry + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Karry 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
Karry: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Karry?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,593 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Karry 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 215,163 US residents.
Is Karry a common name?
We classify Karry as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,848 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Karry most popular?
The single biggest year for Karry was 1971, when 76 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Karry is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Karry in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,818 people with the name Karry, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,087 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 Karry 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 Karry?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Karry on both sides of the split. Of the 1,816 people counted with this name, 565 were male (31.1%) and 1,251 were female (68.9%). 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 Karry?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Karry is White at 72.6%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.0%). 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 Karry most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Karry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.6% (1,319 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 Karry in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Karry a female name?
Yes, 64.9% of people registered as Karry 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 Karry still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Karry 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 Karry 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 Karry as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Karry on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.