How Many People Are Named Karen Kirby?

There are approximately 125 people named Karen Kirby living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,742,035 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Karen with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Kirby. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

125

1 in 2,742,035 Americans

Combination Rarity

Uncommon

Very Rare Very Common

First Name

Karen

Last Name

Kirby

Karen: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Karen. The peak year was 1957 with 40,667 births. The average person named Karen today is 62 years old.

Male

Female

Ancestry of the First Name Karen

In the 2020 Census, the first name Karen was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (81.59%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (7.87%) and Black (6.06%).

These percentages describe the people who had the first name Karen in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Karen rose or fell over time.

White

81.59%

Black

6.06%

Hispanic

7.87%

Asian/Pacific Islander

2.20%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.45%

Two or More Races

1.82%

Ancestry of the Kirby Surname

The surname Kirby was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Kirby in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White

83.01%

Black

8.90%

Hispanic

2.87%

Asian/Pacific Islander

0.62%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.65%

Two or More Races

3.94%

How we calculated this

The first name "Karen" has an estimated frequency of 0.211% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Kirby" appears at a rate of 17.27 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Karen are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 125 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Other people named Karen

Karen Smith Karen Johnson Karen Williams Karen Brown Karen Jones Karen Garcia Karen Gonzalez Karen Harris

Other people with the surname Kirby

Michael Kirby James Kirby John Kirby David Kirby Robert Kirby William Kirby Jared Kirby

Karen Kirby: Questions and Answers

How many people are named Karen Kirby?

We estimate approximately 125 people named Karen Kirby are alive in the United States today. The first name Karen is shared by 723,738 Americans, and the surname Kirby is shared by 59,194.

How rare is the name Karen Kirby?

This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,742,035 Americans. The first name Karen is very common and the surname Kirby is uncommon.

Is Karen a male or female name?

Karen is predominantly female, with 0.3% of bearers being male and 99.7% female. It peaked in popularity in 1957 and the average bearer today is 62 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name Karen?

In the 2020 Census, the first name Karen was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (81.59%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (7.87%) and Black (6.06%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

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