The K-Word: The Rise and fall of the name “Karen” from 1920 — present

Earlier this summer, the Social Security Administration revealed that negative press associated with the name “Karen” caused the name to fall over 170 spots on its baby name ranking list. However, that same data, 12 million records, suggests that the popularity of “Karen” as a name has plummeted since the 1970s when examining average births over the past hundred years.

Karen hit its peak in 1957, with an average of 725 Karens born that year. However, the name was most popular in New York, California and Pennsylvania, which significantly increased the average Karen birth rate.

Although Karen was popular in the 1950s and 60s, when examining the most popular baby names of all-time, Karen doesn’t even make the top ten percent, which is dominated by enduing names like “Mary”, “Linda” and “Jessica.”

In 2020, according to Social Security Data, Olivia and Emma topped the list of most popular female baby names. However, neither name became popular…