Karen () is a

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

and occasional

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

. In

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, it is a feminine given name derived from the name

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, and it is also found in modern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, as well as in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

(particularly

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

). However, in other countries such as

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, it is a masculine name deriving from

Middle Iranian The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are groupe ...

English

Karen entered the English language from

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, where it has been a short form of "Katherine" since medieval times. It became popular in the English-speaking world in the 1940s. The name Karen was one of the top 10 names for girls born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 1950s and 1960s, peaking as the third most popular girl's name in 1965. Variants include Caren,

Caryn Caryn is a given name. Notable persons with that name include: * Caryn Johnson (born 1955), better known by her stage name Whoopi Goldberg, African-American comedian and actress * Caryn Kadavy (born 1967), American figure skater * Caryn Mower (bo ...

Karena Karena is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: * Karena Chapman, Australian chemist * Karena Evans (born 1995), Canadian music video director and actress * Karena Johnson, British theatrical director and producer *Karena Lam (b ...

, Karin,

Karyn Karyn is an English-language given name and may refer to: *Karyn Bailey (born 1986), Australian netball player in the National Netball League * Karyn Bosnak (born 1974), American author of two published books: ''Save Karyn'' and ''20 Times a Lady' ...

, and others. Due to its increasingly common derogatory use since 2017, the name has become significantly less popular in the United States in recent years.

Armenian

''Karen'' ( hy, Կարեն, ) is a common masculine given name. The masculine given name ''Karen'' derived from the

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

n name of

House of Karen House of Karen (Middle Persian: ''Kārēn'', Parthian: ''𐭊𐭓𐭍𐭉 Kārēn,'' fa, کارن ''Kārin'' or ''Kāren''), also known as Karen-Pahlav (''Kārēn-Pahlaw'') was one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran during the rule of Parthian ...

(or Caren), one of the seven aristocratic families of ancient Iran. Several Iranian princes named Karen are known before and after the Islamic period. The Karen house ruled the

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

region of Iran, which approximately corresponds to the current provinces of Gilan state and Mazandaran. The masculine given name Garen is a

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly base ...

form of the Eastern Armenian ''Karen''. The masculine given name ''Karen'' was mentioned by the prominent Armenian historian

Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late a ...

(ca. 410–490s AD; Armenian: Մովսես Խորենացի) in his book '' History of Armenia''. ''Karen'' can also be a surname.

In East Asia

, ''Karen'' is a feminine given name. The name can be found in

. It may come from ("pretty, lovely"), (combining kanji meaning "flower" and "lotus or water lily")Behind the name – Karen (3)
/ref> or other meanings.

Notable people

First name

Surname

Anna Karen Ann Harrison McCall (19 September 1936 – 22 February 2022), professionally known as Anna Karen, was a British actress best known for playing Olive Rudge in the ITV sitcom ''On the Buses'' from 1969 to 1973 including its film spin-offs and s ...

(1936–2022), South African British actress *

James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in ''Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Wall Street'', ''The Return ...

(1923–2018), American actor *

Tom Karen Thomas Josef Derrick Paul Karen (born March 1926) is a British industrial designer of Czech descent. He was managing director and chief designer of Ogle Design from 1962 until 1999. He oversaw design of the Bush Radio TR130 radio, the Ralei ...

(born 1926), British industrial designer

West Asian people

Armenian people

Karen Abrahamyan Karen Abrahamyan ( Armenian: Կարեն_Աբրահամյան; born 4 December 1966) is a politician and general, who is the former Minister of Defence of Artsakh. Biography He was born in the village of Khcaberd of the Hadrut Province of the Az ...

(born 1966), Armenian politician * Karen Aghamyan (born 1946), Armenian painter * Karen Akopyan (born 1992), Russian former football player * Karen Aleksanyan (born 1980), Armenian football midfielder *

Karen Andreasyan Karen Aresi Andreasyan ( hy, Կարեն Արեսի Անդրեասյան; born 10 September 1977) is an Armenian lawyer currently serving as the Minister of Justice of Armenia. He formerly served as the Human Rights Defender ( ombusdman) of Arme ...

(born 1977), Armenian human rights defender * Karen Asatryan (born 1974), Armenian football player *

Karen Asrian Karen Asrian ( hy, Կարեն Ասրյան; 24 April 1980 – 9 June 2008) was an Armenian chess player. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1998, he was a three-time Armenian champion. Asrian was a member of the gold medal-winning Arme ...

(1980–2008), Armenian chess grandmaster * Karen Brutents (1924–2017), Soviet statesman *

Karen Demirchyan Karen Serobi Demirchyan ( hy, Կարեն Սերոբի Դեմիրճյան; 17 April 1932 – 27 October 1999) was a Soviet and Armenian politician. He served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia from 1974 to 1988. Soon after ...

(1932–1999), Armenian politician * Karen Drambjan (1954–2011), Armenian-born Estonian lawyer, politician and activist * Karen Jalavyan (born 1971), Armenian Colonel in Artsakh *

Karen Kavaleryan Karen Kavaleryan ( hy, Կարեն Կավալերյան; russian: Каре́н Кавалеря́н; born June 5, 1961 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian-Armenian lyricist. He currently holds the record (with Sharon Vaughn and Ra ...

(born 1961), Russian musician and composer *

Karen Khachanov Karen Abgarovich Khachanov (russian: Каре́н Абга́рович Хача́нов; born 21 May 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. Khachanov has won four ATP Tour singles titles, including a Masters 1000 title at the 2018 Paris ...

(born 1996), Russian tennis player of Armenian descent *

Karen Khachaturian Karen Surenovich Khachaturian (russian: Карэн Суренович Хачатурян, hy, Կարեն Խաչատրյան) (Moscow, 19 September 1920 – Moscow, 19 July 2011) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Armenian ethnicity and the neph ...

(1920–2011), Russian composer of Armenian descent * Karen Sargsyan (conductor) (born 1952), Armenian choirmaster *

Karen Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov, PAR (russian: Каре́н Гео́ргиевич Шахназа́ров; born 8 July 1952) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He became the Director General of Mosfilm studios in 1998. ...

(born 1952), Russian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter of Armenian descent

Surname

Iranian people

Zarmihr Karen Zarmihr Karen (died 558) was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Karen, who served as the Sasanian governor of Zabulistan Zabulistan ( fa, زابلستان ''Zābulistān''/''Zābolistān''/''Zāwulistān'' or simply ''Zābul'', ps, زاب� ...

(died 558), Iranian nobleman and Sasanian governor of Zabulistan

East Asian people

Karen Iwata is an actress and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 under Team A. Biography Iwata was born on May 13, 1998 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Her mother is Miwa Sugawara, who works as a TV personality in Sendai. As a child, Iwata ...

(born 1998), Japanese singer *

Karen Makishima is a Japanese politician who served as Minister of Digital Affairs, Minister for Digital Reform, Minister in charge of Administrative Reforms, Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform and Minister of State for Regulatory Reform in the First Kis ...

(born 1976), Japanese politician *

Karen Miyama is a Japanese actress and voice actress. She used to be part of the Gekidan Tohai talent agency, and is now part of Horipro is a large Japanese talent agency. History It was founded in 1960 as Hori Productions (ホリプロダクショ ...

(born 1996), Japanese actress *

Karen Mok Karen Mok (born Karen Joy Morris (), 2 June 1970) is a Hong Kong pop diva who is one of the leading Asian pop singers and actresses with a career spanning three decades. She is the first female Hong Kong singer to win the Golden Melody Award and h ...

(born 1970), Hong Kong singer and actress * Karen Nun-Ira (born 1991), Japanese judoka *

Karen Tanaka Karen Tanaka (born April 7, 1961) is a Japanese composer. Biography Karen Tanaka was born in Tokyo where she started piano and composition lessons as a child. After studying composition with Akira Miyoshi and piano with Nobuko Amada at Toho Gak ...

(born 1961), Japanese composer *

Karen Takizawa is a Japanese model, ''tarento'' and actress. She is represented by her agency Stardust PromotionKaren Yu Karen Yu (; born 11 June 1980) is a Taiwanese politician. She served a single term on the Legislative Yuan as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party. Early life Yu obtained her bachelor's degree in economics from National Taiwan Univers ...

(born 1980), Taiwanese politician

Fictional people

Live action

Animation

References

{{given name, type=both Armenian masculine given names Danish feminine given names Dutch feminine given names English feminine given names Finnish feminine given names German feminine given names Icelandic feminine given names Irish feminine given names Japanese feminine given names Norwegian feminine given names Scottish feminine given names Swedish feminine given names

English

Armenian

In East Asia

Notable people

First name

Surname

West Asian people

Armenian people

Surname

Iranian people

East Asian people

Fictional people

Live action

Animation

See also

References