Kari
Feminine · “pure”
Kari is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 59,696 girls against 931 boys since 1880. See Kari as a boy name
Kari is the Norwegian form of Catherine, and it is one of the most ordinary women's names in Norway — so ordinary that it functions there the way Jane does in English.
How old is the name Kari?
Kari first appears in US birth records in 1934 — 91 years ago. The typical Kari alive today was born around 1978, making them about 47 years old. About 56,500 people named Kari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kari most popular?
Kari peaked in 1976, reaching #127 nationally. Today it ranks #2076, 1,949 places below that high. See the whole 1976 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Kari
The story of Kari
Catherine reached Scandinavia through the medieval church and was shortened in each language — Karin in Sweden, Kari in Norway, Karen in Denmark. Kari is a staple of the Norwegian registers and appears in folk tales as the ordinary woman's name. American families borrowed the Scandinavian K forms in the 1960s and 1970s, and Kari peaked in the mid-1970s.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure
Through Katarina and Aikaterine. The received reading is the Greek katharos, 'pure', but that meaning was attached later: the earliest recorded form is not explained by katharos, and the spelling drifted toward it under the influence of the saint's legend. The original sense is not recovered.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Katarina
- Kari
Related forms: Kari · Karin · Karen · Kaarina
Pronouncing Kari
KAR-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Norwegian says it the same way; American speakers sometimes say KAIR-ee, closer to Carrie.
Nicknames for Kari
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
- 1934
- Most girls named
- 19762,180 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #127reached in 1976
- Change vs 2023
- −22.4%90 in 2025, from 116
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.
Kari in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kari in Norwegian — same name
- Karin in Swedish — related form
- Karen in Danish — related form
- Kaarina in Finnish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio, Texas, Georgia.
Karis among us
people named Kari are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 17,859 born in 2025 was named Kari
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kari
- #2076
- Kari on the 2025 chart
- #776
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kari went to 90 girls in 2025, but Khari, Kaari and Cari and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 184, which makes it the 776th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,300 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 8,735 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 17,859 for Kari itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Priscilla test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kari's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Priscilla climbed just as high around 1940, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Priscilla's path sketches the road Kari is walking now.
Kari 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
Where Kari is headed
Kari should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kari beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kari in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A genuine Norwegian name in everyday use, not an American respelling.
- It sits inside one of the largest name families in Europe.
- Four letters, two syllables, and easy for a child to write early.
- Two pronunciations are current in American English.
- Carrie and Kerry are close enough to cause confusion.
- It is closely dated to the 1970s in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kari 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 Kari? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kari
Feminine · #2076 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Karis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 56,500 people named Kari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kari?
- Kari is the most-used spelling in US records — 90 of the 184 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Khari, Kaari, Cari and Karri.
- How popular is the name Kari in 2025?
- Kari ranks #2076 among US girl names in 2025, with 90 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kari?
- About 1 in every 17,859 US girls born in 2025 was named Kari — 90 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kari with classmates?
- Kari will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kari
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Everlynn#2076 · Scotland#2076 · Iylah#2076 · Blayke#2076 · Acelynn#2076 · Lilyann#2076 · Taliah#2076 · Shaindy#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kari? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kari 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