Karey
Masculine · “from a surname”
Karey is given to both — 584 boys and 2,187 girls since 1880. See Karey as a girl nameSee other names given to both
The commonest spelling of this name was assembled in a studio office. An English actor who had been born with an entirely different name took the first half from a part he had played and the second from a list the studio kept, and the combination went on to be one of the most recognizable names of its century.
How old is the name Karey?
Karey first appears in US birth records in 1937 — 88 years ago. The typical Karey alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 500 people named Karey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Karey most popular?
Karey peaked in 1960, reaching #1728 nationally. See the whole 1960 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ó Ciardha to Karey
The story of Karey
Two families arrived at the same surname from opposite ends of the British Isles. The Irish one comes from a personal name built on a word for dark or black, and it is one of a whole set of Irish names built on color terms. The English one is territorial: a village in the west country, taking its name from the river beside it, which is a Celtic river name of the sort that survives all over England after everything around it has changed language twice. The two spellings converged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and have been indistinguishable ever since, so the surname is genuinely two surnames wearing one coat.
Meaningscholars disagree
from a surname, and there are two unrelated ones
One source is Irish and built on a word for dark. The other is English and comes from a place in Devon named after a river. They are not related to each other in any way, and a modern bearer has no way of knowing which is behind their name.
How the name formed
- Ó Ciardha
- Carey
- Karey
Pronouncing Karey
KAIR-ee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The k and the -ey change nothing audible; the name is said exactly as Carey and Cary are.
Nicknames for Karey
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
- 1937
- Most boys named
- 196022 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1728reached in 1960
- Change vs 2002
- −16.7%5 in 2009, from 6
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.
Kareys among us
people named Karey are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Karey sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is completely unisex without sounding as though it is trying to be.
- Kay sits inside it as a short form that stands on its own.
- The sound is settled and nobody hesitates over it.
- Carey, Cary, Kerry and Kari are all in use and the spelling gets queried constantly.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
- Neither of the two possible origins can be identified for any given family.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Karey to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Karey? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Karey
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Kareys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Karey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Karey in 2025?
- Karey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Karey with classmates?
- Karey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Kenneth#294 · Kevin#221 · Kyle#508 · Keith#800 · Karl#1585 · Kaleb#295 · Kurt#2258 · Kelly#1867
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Karey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Karey and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle