Kari
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Swedish, of recent usage, equivalent to English Carrie or Cary. From Norwegian Kari, diminutive of Katrine.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Kari (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
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
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 | 609 | 2,247 |
| 2000 | 606 | 2,227 |
| 2001 | 612 | 2,214 |
| 2002 | 614 | 2,212 |
| 2003 | 629 | 2,193 |
| 2004 | 628 | 2,167 |
| 2005 | 623 | 2,139 |
| 2006 | 616 | 2,125 |
| 2007 | 608 | 2,085 |
| 2008 | 606 | 2,060 |
| 2009 | 605 | 2,047 |
| 2010 | 606 | 2,004 |
| 2011 | 591 | 1,980 |
| 2012 | 589 | 1,953 |
| 2013 | 584 | 1,931 |
| 2014 | 571 | 1,909 |
| 2015 | 567 | 1,893 |
| 2016 | 553 | 1,867 |
| 2017 | 538 | 1,837 |
| 2018 | 533 | 1,804 |
| 2019 | 519 | 1,773 |
| 2020 | 506 | 1,744 |
Kari in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Kari.Hi! My name is Kari.
- Vet du om Kari kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Kari is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Karis mamma är lärare.Kari's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Karis mamma is Kari's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Kari
How do you pronounce Kari in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Kari in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Kari mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Swedish, of recent usage, equivalent to English Carrie or Cary. From Norwegian Kari, diminutive of Katrine.
How popular is Kari in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Kari in 2022. In 2020, 2,250 people in Sweden had Kari as the first name they go by.
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.