Fewer newborn babies were named Karen in the US in 2020 than in any year since 1932, according to Social Security Administration data. Karen, the third most popular name for girls in 1965, was in the top 150 female names as of 2003. It has slowly fallen in popularity since then, ranking in the 500s in 2015-17. It ranked 637 and 660 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. But in 2020, it fell dramatically to No. 831, with only 325 baby girls named Karen, compared to nearly 33,000 in 1965.
The name has become slang for "an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her way or police other people's behaviors," according to Dictionary.com. Karen refers to "the kind of person who demands to 'speak to the manager' in order to belittle service industry workers, is anti-vaccination, and carries out racist micro-aggressions, such as asking to touch black people's hair."