Karma
Feminine · “action”
Karma is given to both — 7,593 girls and 270 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Karma is action in Sanskrit — simply the deed itself, before any idea of reward or punishment attached to it.
How old is the name Karma?
Karma first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Karma alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 7,100 people named Karma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Karma most popular?
Karma peaked in 2009, reaching #760 nationally. Today it ranks #1703, 943 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Where it comes from
From karman to Karma
The story of Karma
Karma is a central term in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh thought, and it means something different in each. It is also a genuine Tibetan given name, from the Karma Kagyu lineage. English borrowed the word in the nineteenth century. Karma appears in the American registers as a given name from the 1990s and is in current use.
Meaning
action, deed
From the Sanskrit karman, 'act', 'deed' or 'work', from a root meaning to do. The doctrine of consequence grew around the word; the word itself names only the action. The popular English sense of cosmic payback is a considerable narrowing. The Sanskrit is ordinary and undisputed.
How the name formed
- karman
- karma
- Karma
Related forms: कर्म · Karma · Karma
Pronouncing Karma
KAR-muh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Sanskrit karman gives the r a syllabic quality English does not reproduce.
Nicknames for Karma
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 2008333 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #760reached in 2009
- Change vs 2023
- −39.7%120 in 2025, from 199
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.
Karma in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- कर्म in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Karma in Tibetan — same name
- Karma in Hindi — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Karmas among us
people named Karma are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 13,394 born in 2025 was named Karma
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Karma
- #1703
- Karma on the 2025 chart
- #819
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Karma went to 120 girls in 2025, but Carma, Kharma and Karmah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 141, which makes it the 819th most-given girls’ name of the year — 884 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 11,399 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 13,394 for Karma 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 Nicola test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Karma's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nicola climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nicola's path sketches the road Karma is walking now.
Karma 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 Karma is headed
Karma 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.
Karma beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Karma in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The plain action meaning is more interesting than the popular English sense.
- It is a genuine Tibetan given name as well as a Sanskrit word.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The English sense of cosmic payback is a narrowing and is what most people hear.
- It is thoroughly unisex in Tibetan use.
- It is an ordinary English loanword and reads as one.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Karma
Feminine · #1703 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Karmas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,100 people named Karma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Karma?
- Karma is the most-used spelling in US records — 120 of the 141 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Carma, Kharma and Karmah.
- How popular is the name Karma in 2025?
- Karma ranks #1703 among US girl names in 2025, with 120 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Karma?
- About 1 in every 13,394 US girls born in 2025 was named Karma — 120 in all.
- Will my child share the name Karma with classmates?
- Karma will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Karma
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leticia#1703 · Agatha#1703 · Beatriz#1703 · Wynn#1703 · Delanie#1703 · Mar#1703 · Evaluna#1710 · Aleyah#1710
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Karma? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Karma and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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