first name
KAROLYN
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 4,936 people named Karolyn, 76.5% reported their origin as White, 9.8% as Hispanic or Latino and 8.1% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Karolyn peaked in 1946, when 167 babies got the name.
At least 5,957 babies have been given the name since 1912. 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.
Karolyn by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #1,176. The largest share of babies named Karolyn, 30%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
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 Karolyn is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Karolyn has been most common in Iowa (5.5×), Kansas (4.6×), and Michigan (2.8×), and least common in Pennsylvania (0.4×).
2,288 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 Karolyn
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Karolyn, most common first.
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🔎 KAROLYN 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜ 1 in 61,190 Americans Rarer than 83.3% of us Peaked in 1946 with 167 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/karolyn/