The occurrence of naming baby girls Karen in the United States is dropping, possibly due to the emergence of a meme on social media.
Karen fell 171 spots on the list of most popular baby names, from 660th in 2019 to 831st in 2020, according to data from the Social Security Administration. The move was the farthest single-year drop for the name since it entered the 1,000 most popular American baby names in 1906.
Popular culture paints the “Karen” archetype as one who is reactionary and entitled, always demanding to speak with a manager or otherwise complaining. She can be found in public places being rude to people who cross her, especially minimum-wage employees.
Some took the meme more seriously when it became popular.
“Do I really need to spell out the sexism of a meme about a woman’s name that took off from a man griping about his ex-wife and has become a way of telling women to shut up?” one columnist wrote.
In June 2020, author Karlos Dillard followed a white woman home and accused her of racism during a traffic incident.
“This Karen cut me off, break checked some almost causing a accident flipped me off and called me out of my name. She didn’t know I had time today,” he wrote in a tweet accompanied by a video of the woman crying while trying to hide her identity.
While women with the name might take issue with its associated stereotypes, the “middle-aged” characteristic is based on data.
Karen entered the top five baby names in 1957, remaining there until it dropped to sixth in 1967, according to the SSA. It reached its peak in 1965 as the No. 3 name. It has been dropping ever since, but it never did so this drastically.
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Statistically, most Karens in the U.S. are between the ages of 55 and 64.
