Karen vs Karolee
American parents have registered 990,774 Karens since 1880, against 180 Karolees. Karen is still ahead, with 175 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Karen Karolee
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Karen has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1881 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 1939, when Karen had 5,558 and Karolee had 9.
Side by side
| Karen | Karolee | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 990,774 | 180 |
| Most in one year | 40,668 | 14 |
| Babies in 2025 | 175 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 803,000 | 140 |
| Median age today | 65 | 67 |
| Peak year | 1957 | 1962 |
| Best rank | 5th girls | 3,438th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 1,279th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1881 | 1939 |
| Girls / boys | 987,989 / 2,785 | 180 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Karolees alive today are over 67; half the Karens are over 65. That is 2 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Karen and Karolee.