Karen Facts for Kids

Karen is a female given name, and a Danish short version of Katherine. It ranked in the top 10 during 1950s and 1960s, peaking at the #3 in 1965. Variants include Caren, Caryn, Karena, Karin, Karyn, and others. There are multiple celebrities with the name. In addition, the name is currently being used for Atlantic tropical cyclones. 'Karren' is also a surname.

Due to its increasingly common derogatory use since 2017, the name has become significantly less popular in the United States in recent years. Many women named Karen have suffered from negative attention and unjustified mockery, bullying and harassment. To stop namism, which is a form of identity-based prejudice, they struggle to make society aware of this problem and start various support groups. One of these is Karens United for Respect (KU4R), which is a non-partisan, non-political international group of people who believe that names and ethnic identities merit respect just like any aspect of identity. KU4R serves women and girls being name-shamed, bullied, and harassed, and is led by members of that group.

Notable people

Karen Aardal (born 1961), Norwegian and Dutch applied mathematician
Karen Ackerman (born 1951), American children's author
Karen Aline Peliçari (born 1989), Brazilian footballer
Karen Allen (born 1951), American actress
Karen Alexander (disambiguation), several people
Karen Anderson (writer) (1932–2018), American fantasy writer
Karen Anderson (squash player) (born 1971), Jamaican squash player
Karen Anette Anti (born 1972), Norwegian Sami politician
Karen Armstrong (born 1944), British author on comparative religion
Karen Arthur (born 1941), American film director, producer, and actress
Karen Dianne Baldwin (born 1963), Miss Universe 1982
Karen Bass, (born 1953), American politician and social worker
Karen Bernstein (born 1969), Canadian voice actress
Karen Bjornson (born 1952), American model
Karen Black (1939–2013), American actress
Karen Blixen (1885–1962), Danish author under the pen name Isak Dinesen
Karen Carlson (born 1944), American actress
Karen Carpenter (1950–1983), American singer and drummer
Karen Cashman, American short track speed skater
Karen Cellini (born 1958), American actress
Karen Chen, American figure skater
Karen Chin, American paleontologist, coprolitologist, and taphonomist
Karen Clark-Sheard (born 1960), American gospel singer and songwriter, member of the Clark Sisters
Karen Cockburn (born 1980), Canadian Olympic trampolinist
Karen Connelly (born 1969), Canadian travel writer and novelist
Karen Crouse, American journalist and author
Karen Daley, president of the American Nurses Association
Karen David (born 1979/1980), Indian-born Canadian actress
Karen Davila (born 1970), Filipina newscaster and broadcast journalist
Karen delos Reyes (born 1984), Filipina actress
Karen Devine, American computer scientist
Karen Dotrice (born 1955), English former actress
Karen Dunne (born 1967), American track and road cyclist
Karen Elson (born 1979), British model and singer
Karen Fogg, British diplomat
Karen Friedman (born 1946), wife of mobster Henry Hill, depicted in Goodfellas
Karen Gillan (born 1987), Scottish actress
Karen L. Gould (born 1948) American scholar of French-Canadian literature, president of Brooklyn College
Karen Handel (born 1962), American politician
Karen Harding (born 1991), English singer
Karen Hassan (born 1981), Northern Irish actress
Karen Haude, German field hockey player
Karen Horning (born 1966), Peruvian breaststroke swimmer
Karen Kain (born 1951), Canadian ballerina, currently artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada
Karen Kilgariff (born 1970), American comedian and podcast host
Karen Killilea (born 1940), subject of two books by her mother, Marie Killilea
Karen Kingsbury (born 1963), Christian fiction author
Karen King-Aribisala, Nigerian writer
Karen Kohanowich, former United States Navy diver
Karen Kong (born 1984), Malaysian singer
Karen Kotte (died 1509), Danish merchant
Karen Kurreck (born 1962), American road cyclist
Karen LaFace (born 1966), American diver
Karen MacLeod (1958–2021), British long-distance runner
MØ (Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen), Danish singer
Karen Marrongelle, American mathematics educator
Karen Matheson, Scottish folk singer
Karen Mok (born 1970), Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter
Karen Morrison-Comstock (born 1955), Miss USA 1974
Karen Mulder (born 1970), Dutch model and singer
Karen Muir (1952–2013), South African swimmer
Karen L. Nyberg (born 1969), American astronaut
Karen O (born 1978), American Singer/Musician of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Karen Palacios, Venezuelan clarinetist
Karen Pence (born 1957), Second Lady of the United States
Karen Pickering (born 1971), British swimmer
Karen Poutasi (born 1949), New Zealand government official
Karen Prell (born 1959), American puppeteer and animator
Karen Press (born 1956), South African poet
Karen Ann Quinlan (1954–1985), central figure in an American right-to-die controversy
Karen Reyes (born 1996), Filipina actress
Karen Rosenberg (born 1975), Danish singer
Karen Sheffield (born 1961), Canadian judo champion
Karen Smith (Australian field hockey) (born 1979), Australian field hockey player
Karen Smith (New Zealand field hockey) (born 1970), New Zealand field hockey player
Karen Smyers (born 1961), American triathlete
Karen Spencer, Countess Spencer, wife of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer
Karen Strassman (born 1966), American voice actress
Karen Taylor (comedian) (born 1976), British comedian
Karen Elizabeth Tilley, Miss Canada 1985
Karen Valentine (born 1947), American actress
Karen Villanueva (born 1998), Mexican rhythmic gymnast
Karen Vogtmann (born 1949), American mathematician
Karen Winkfield (born 1970), American radiation oncologist and physician-scientist
Karen Young (1951–1991), American disco singer
Karen Zoid (born 1987), South African rock singer

Karen facts for kids

Notable people

See also