Karin
Meaning and origin
A contraction of Katarina. First recorded in Sweden in 1460.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Karin (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Karin has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1999. 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 |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 99 |
| 1999 | 126 |
| 2000 | 96 |
| 2001 | 98 |
| 2002 | 68 |
| 2003 | 87 |
| 2004 | 66 |
| 2005 | 63 |
| 2006 | 65 |
| 2007 | 57 |
| 2008 | 49 |
| 2009 | 43 |
| 2010 | 45 |
| 2011 | 42 |
| 2012 | 46 |
| 2013 | 36 |
| 2014 | 38 |
| 2015 | 41 |
| 2016 | 34 |
| 2017 | 36 |
| 2018 | 32 |
| 2019 | 29 |
| 2020 | 39 |
| 2021 | 38 |
| 2022 | 41 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 97,857 |
| 2000 | 95,449 |
| 2001 | 93,092 |
| 2002 | 90,740 |
| 2003 | 88,598 |
| 2004 | 86,404 |
| 2005 | 84,290 |
| 2006 | 82,172 |
| 2007 | 80,351 |
| 2008 | 78,681 |
| 2009 | 76,961 |
| 2010 | 75,174 |
| 2011 | 73,525 |
| 2012 | 71,809 |
| 2013 | 70,191 |
| 2014 | 68,705 |
| 2015 | 67,214 |
| 2016 | 65,765 |
| 2017 | 64,332 |
| 2018 | 62,923 |
| 2019 | 61,553 |
| 2020 | 60,039 |
Karin in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Karin.Hi! My name is Karin.
- Har du träffat Karin? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Karin? She started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Karin kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Karin is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Karins mamma är lärare.Karin's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Karins mamma is Karin's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Karin
How do you pronounce Karin in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Karin from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Karin mean?
A contraction of Katarina. First recorded in Sweden in 1460.
How popular is Karin in Sweden?
41 babies were named Karin in 2022. In 2020, 60,039 people in Sweden had Karin as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 1999 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.