How rare is the name Kareem?

13,237 people in the United States have the first name Kareem, about 1 in 22,817. It ranks #2,053 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

KAREEM

#2,053

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
13,237
About
1 in 22,817
This common or more
78.3%
Who bears it

Of the 13,237 people named Kareem, 63.6% reported their origin as Black, 23.8% as White and 5.5% as Hispanic or Latino. 98.9% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kareem peaked in 1980, when 480 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19642025
Peak year
1980
Births that year
480
In 2025*
383 ▼20%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 18,359 babies have been given the name since 1964. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Kareem by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #1,011. The largest share of babies named Kareem, 27.2%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1960s#12,55718
1970s#1,0113,086
1980s#1,1123,119
1990s#1,2703,184
2000s#1,4873,127
2010s#1,5223,387
2020s#1,3582,438
Baby boom 1946–640%
Generation X 1965–8019.5%
Millennials 1981–9626.8%
Generation Z 1997–1227.2%
2013 and later26.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Kareem is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kareem has been most common in New York (2.9×), New Jersey (2.9×), and District of Columbia (2.1×), and least common in Washington (0.12×).

16,118 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Kareem

#2,051 Wendi · 13,242#2,052 Hailee · 13,240#2,054 Archer · 13,225#2,055 Marcelino · 13,212

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kareem, most common first.

#7,156 Kareen · 2,154#10,355 Karem · 1,294#14,906 Kareema · 781#42,079 Kariem · 172

Also a last name

As a last name, Kareem ranks #18,348 of 156,621, with 1,493 people. See Kareem as a last name

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