Karas
Masculine
Karas is a Greek and Slavic surname, and in several Slavic languages the word means a crucian carp.
How old is the name Karas?
Karas first appears in US birth records in 2008 — 17 years ago. The typical Karas is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Karas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Karas most popular?
Karas peaked in 2014, reaching #1781 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 2,758 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Karas
Ours, offered as ours. Fish surnames are commoner in Europe than one would expect — Karas the crucian, Shchuka the pike, Pike and Roach in English, Brochet in French — and they were given to fishermen, to fishmongers, or as bynames for people thought to resemble the fish. The crucian is a tough small carp that survives in water nothing else will live in, which is a reasonable thing to be named for.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Slavic karas names a crucian carp and gives a common surname. Greek Karas is generally read from a word for a head or from a byname. A separate Armenian Karas is also recorded. None is established for the modern given name.
Pronouncing Karas
KAR-us
Two syllables, first stressed. Greek stresses the last, ka-RAS.
Nicknames for Karas
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2008
- Most boys named
- 201484 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1781reached in 2014
- Change vs 2024
- +4.8%22 in 2025, from 21
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Karas in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Καράς in Greek — transliteration
- Karaś in Polish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Tennessee, New Jersey, California.
Karass among us
people named Karas are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Karas
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jemel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Karas's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jemel climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jemel's path sketches the road Karas is walking now.
Karas sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Karas beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Karas in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- Two real European traditions produce the surname.
- The stress differs between the Greek and American readings.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled.
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Karas
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Karass are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Karas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Karas in 2025?
- Karas ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Karas?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Karas — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Karas with classmates?
- Karas will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Karas
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Karas? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Karas and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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