Karna
Feminine · “ear (Sanskrit)”
Karna is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 523 girls against 6 boys since 1880.
Karna is the Sanskrit word for an ear and the name of one of the great tragic heroes of the Mahabharata, a warrior born with armor and earrings that he gave away when asked. In the American record the name belongs mostly to girls, by a road the documents do not explain.
How old is the name Karna?
Karna first appears in US birth records in 1930 — 95 years ago. The typical Karna alive today was born around 1964, making them about 61 years old. About 400 people named Karna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Karna most popular?
Karna peaked in 1970, reaching #2450 nationally. See the whole 1970 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Karna
Karna is the son of Kunti and the sun god Surya, born before her marriage, set adrift in a basket and raised by a charioteer's family. He was born wearing golden armor and earrings that made him hard to kill. Karna was famous for never refusing a request, and when the god Indra came to him disguised as a Brahmin and asked for them, he cut the armor and earrings from his body and handed them over, knowing what it would cost him in the war to come. In Indian tradition the name is a man's; the American girls called Karna reached it by a road the record does not show.
Meaning
ear (Sanskrit), as the name of the Mahabharata hero
As the hero's name it is the Sanskrit karna, 'ear.' The American girls given this spelling have no source the record can show; whether it reached them as a form of Karen or from somewhere else is not recorded.
Pronouncing Karna
KAR-nuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Sanskrit and Hindi the r is tapped and the n is made with the tongue curled back.
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
- 1930
- Most girls named
- 197030 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2450reached in 1970
- Change vs 1984
- 0.0%5 in 1985, from 5
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.
Karnas among us
people named Karna 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
Karna 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
- A short, two-syllable name spelled as it sounds.
- A celebrated figure of the Mahabharata, famous for generosity, stands behind it.
- Rare in the United States, so it will seldom be shared.
- People who know the Mahabharata know Karna as a man, so a girl with the name will sometimes be told it is a boy's name.
- It sits one letter from Karen, so expect spelling corrections.
- A few boys are recorded with it too, and for them the epic supplies a strong and well-known namesake.
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What they receive
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Karna
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Karnas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Karna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Karna in 2025?
- Karna is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Karna with classmates?
- Karna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Karen#1279 · Kimberly#302 · Kathleen#1150 · Katherine#186 · Kelly#851 · Kathryn#729 · Kayla#364 · Kathy#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Karna? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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