Karen is a ♀ girl name and a ♂ boy name. That makes Karen one of the gender-neutral unisex names.
Karen is a masculine name in Armenia. In other countries, e.g. in England, Germany and Scandinavia, it is a feminine name and derived from the Greek name Katherine. Besides, Karen is a Japanese name.
There is no meaning of the masculine name Karen. For girls, Karen means “pure” (from ancient Greek “katharós/κᾰθᾰρός”), “each of the two” (from ancient Greek “hekáteros/ἑκᾰ́τερος”), “hundred” (from ancient Greek “hekatón/ἑκᾰτόν”), “far off” (from ancient Greek “hekás/ἑκᾰ́ς”), but as well “torture” (from ancient Greek “aikíā/αἰκῐ́ᾱ”). In Japanese, Karen means “flower” (華/ka) and “lotus”, “water lily” (蓮/ren).
Based on the frequency of positive ratings, we can analyze how popular names are in different countries. The name Karen is currently ranked #6128 on the name leaderboard.
Curious about more trends? Find out which names are most popular in the USA, Canada, Australia, and worldwide.

| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | - | - | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | ✓ | - | - | - | - |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | - | ✓ | - | - | - |
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