Karen
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Danish. 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.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Karen (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Karen has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2018. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – |
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | – | – |
| 2005 | 3 | – |
| 2006 | – | – |
| 2007 | 2 | – |
| 2008 | 2 | – |
| 2009 | – | – |
| 2010 | 2 | – |
| 2011 | – | – |
| 2012 | – | – |
| 2013 | – | – |
| 2014 | – | – |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 |
| 2016 | – | – |
| 2017 | 3 | – |
| 2018 | 5 | – |
| 2019 | – | – |
| 2020 | 3 | – |
| 2021 | 2 | – |
| 2022 | – | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 718 | – |
| 2000 | 726 | – |
| 2001 | 721 | 10 |
| 2002 | 725 | 10 |
| 2003 | 726 | 11 |
| 2004 | 743 | 14 |
| 2005 | 740 | 17 |
| 2006 | 732 | 26 |
| 2007 | 744 | 28 |
| 2008 | 739 | 34 |
| 2009 | 747 | 39 |
| 2010 | 744 | 41 |
| 2011 | 734 | 42 |
| 2012 | 733 | 45 |
| 2013 | 736 | 51 |
| 2014 | 742 | 52 |
| 2015 | 742 | 60 |
| 2016 | 756 | 60 |
| 2017 | 771 | 66 |
| 2018 | 790 | 69 |
| 2019 | 780 | 75 |
| 2020 | 777 | 77 |
Karen in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Karen.Hi! My name is Karen.
- Har du träffat Karen? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Karen? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Karen i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Karen this afternoon.
- Karens mamma är lärare.Karen's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Karens mamma is Karen's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Karen
How do you pronounce Karen in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Karen in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Karen mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Danish. 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.
How popular is Karen in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Karen in 2022. In 2020, 854 people in Sweden had Karen as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2018 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.