Karen

Where Karen comes from

From Danish Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that arose in medieval Denmark. The sense "middle-aged woman" comes from the popularity of the name among baby boomers and Gen-Xers. The derogatory usage was popularized via African-American Vernacular English.
— Wiktionary's entry for Karen
  • Danish
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1881
    First appearance
    #740 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1885
    Karen Blixen born
    Danish writer
  3. 1965
    Peak, #3
    32,869 babies named Karen — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1971
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #15.
  5. 1987
    Karen Gillan born
    Scottish actress and filmmaker
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Danish.
Namesakes
  • Karen Blixen · Danish writer, 1885–1962
  • Karen Gillan · Scottish actress and filmmaker, born 1987
  • Karen Horney · American-German psychoanalyst, 1885–1952
  • Karen Black · American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter, 1939–2013
  • Karen Uhlenbeck · American mathematician, born 1942

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.