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.