Karson
Feminine
Karson is given to both — 2,106 girls and 21,394 boys since 1880. See Karson as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Karson is a respelling of Carson, a Scottish and Irish surname of genuinely uncertain origin, best known in America through a frontier scout and a late-night host.
How old is the name Karson?
Karson first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Karson alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 2,100 people named Karson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Karson most popular?
Karson peaked in 1999, reaching #1596 nationally. Today it ranks #3577, 1,981 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Karson
Ours, offered as ours. Carson is one of those border surnames that could be Scottish, Irish or English depending on which family you ask, and the scholarship has never resolved it. What made it a given name in America is not its etymology at all but two men — a nineteenth-century scout and a twentieth-century broadcaster — whose surname became familiar enough to be used in front. Karson with a K is the girls' spelling that followed, part of the broad American exchange of C for K.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The surname's derivation is not established. Readings from a place name in Cumbria, from the Gaelic Ó Carrsáin, and from a patronymic on Carr have all been proposed. None is settled, and the modern given name carries the surname's association rather than a meaning.
Pronouncing Karson
KAR-suhn
Two syllables, first stressed. Karson and Carson are said identically.
Nicknames for Karson
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
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 1999105 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1596reached in 1999
- Change vs 2024
- −19.2%42 in 2025, from 52
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.
Karson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Carson in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, North Carolina.
Karsons among us
people named Karson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 38,268 born in 2025 was named Karson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Karson
- #3577
- Karson on the 2025 chart
- #723
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Karson went to 42 girls in 2025, but Carson is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 239, which makes it the 723rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,854 places above the chart.
- Carson197
- Karson42
About 1 girl in 6,725 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 38,268 for Karson 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 Lakeya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Karson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lakeya climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lakeya's path sketches the road Karson is walking now.
Karson 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 Karson is headed
Karson 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.
Karson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Karson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Six letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- The K spelling marks it as a girls' name in current American use.
- Carson is far more written and strongly read as a boys' name.
- The -son ending means son of, which reads oddly for a girl once she knows it.
- There is no documented meaning behind the surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Karson 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 Karson? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Karson
Feminine · #3577 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Karsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Karson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Karson?
- Karson is one of 2 recorded spellings. Carson is the more common one — 197 births in 2025 against 42 for Karson.
- How popular is the name Karson in 2025?
- Karson ranks #3577 among US girl names in 2025, with 42 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Karson?
- About 1 in every 38,268 US girls born in 2025 was named Karson — 42 in all.
- Will my child share the name Karson with classmates?
- Karson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Karson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Delphine#3577 · Evelyne#3577 · Ellanor#3577 · Gwenevere#3577 · Lian#3577 · Katya#3577 · Kolby#3577 · Cherry#3577
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Karson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Karson 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