Comments for KAREN (1):

Karen means "pure maiden".

-- Karee  1/28/2005

May also be traced back to the Hebrew name 'Keren', which means "horn", and appears several times in that form in the Old Testament.

-- Anonymous User  9/19/2005

Also the name of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's lead singer, Karen Olzarek (Karen O.)

-- anonymous  12/1/2005

Karen Kingsbury is a popular Christian author.

-- Anonymous User  12/13/2005

Actress Karen Allen is a famous bearer.

-- Anonymous User  12/21/2005

I personally know (work with closely) eight Karens! We have had to come up with nicknames for all of them so we know which we are referring to (or say their last name too). They are all in between 40 & 50 years old.

-- christen  1/3/2006

Karen Carpenter (of the 70's pop duo The Carpenters) was a famous bearer.

-- Anonymous User  1/12/2006

Karen Kain is a famous bearer of this name. She's a famous and ground-breaking ballerina who now teaches other dancers at the National Ballet of Canada.

-- Anonymous User  2/6/2006

Karen Elson is a top fashion model and married to Jack White of the band The White Stripes.

-- khaotickharma  4/24/2006

Karen Mülder was a great top mopdel from the 80's (Dutch).

-- Anonymous User  5/4/2006

Karen, Sharon and Darren would be good names for triplets.

-- FairyGirl  7/22/2006

Keren is the Hebrew word for Ray (of light). It's a very popular Israeli female name.

-- marfa stew  9/21/2006

The mad hilarious character in Will and Grace is called Karen Walker played by Megan Mullally.

-- ClaireCFC  9/28/2006

My Danish aunt pronounced it KAH-ren. I've also known German-speaking people (Karin was their preferred spelling) who said it: ka-RIN.

-- Anneza  10/16/2006

Blah! This name is so typical and overused. It makes me think of a middle-aged woman.

-- Anonymous User  10/23/2006

It sounds like a middle-aged housewife's name.

-- Anonymous User  10/23/2006

There are authors named Karen Harper, Karen Kingsbury, Karen Robards and Karen Rose.

-- Anonymous User  11/28/2006

Karen Marie Moning is an author.

-- Missy  1/5/2007

Karen Brewer was the main character in the children's book series "Babysitters Club Little Sister".

-- Missy  1/5/2007

To me, Karen sounds like the name of an annoying girl who tags along. Of course, I could be influenced by the Dane Cook routine, lol.

-- gracielou16  1/22/2007

I think this is such a cute name, but the problem is that it sounds really dated now and makes me think of a middle-aged woman.

-- Anonymous User  6/8/2007

This is a name that has grown on me. I don't personally know one, but I like the name since it's short. If you really look at the name long enough, and forget about its past popularity, it could work.

-- WritersEye  6/19/2007

I'm sure it's pronounced differently, but apparently in Japanese, "Karen" can mean "lovely", "cute", "oppression (e.g. taxation)", "poor", "pitiful", or "sweet".

Or at least, according to this, it is. http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html

-- Anonymous User  7/7/2007

This name, for me, is a name for all ages. My best friend, who is Karen and is fourteen, has this name. My grandma who is fifty-something also has Karen, and they both go well with the name Karen. It's an awesome name!

-- Anonymous User  7/8/2007

'Ker-en'? I have always pronounced it 'Kaah-ren.' But, then again, my Brazilian cousin is called this and she pronounces in 'Kah-reen.'

-- Surreal  7/31/2007

Karen, singer of Raison Detre.

-- RIRYKA  3/19/2008

I object to those who think this name is for a boring middle aged housewife. My friends would all agree that although I am 39, I am youthful and a lot of fun.

-- KAREN1268  4/16/2008

Beautiful and gentle. Listen to it without care and feel the rich simplicity of it.

-- EmilyOlive  7/16/2008

I am a athletic teenage Karen. I like this name becase you hardly hear it used in my age group, so it feels special to have a name that you don't hear everyday. I think that this name will become more popular in a few years.

-- Anonymous User  8/19/2008

Karen in the movie "Leave It to Beaver" was Wally's girlfriend.

-- tutugirl22  8/19/2008

"Karen" is a short story written by the Norwegian author Alexander Kielland prior to 1882, when it was published. The main character is a beautiful young girl named Karen who workes in an inn (weird sentence!). She falls in love with the, er, mailman (he did carry mail, but was a far more important than mailmen of today), and becomes pregnant. When she overhears one of the costumers telling his friend that the mailman is happily married, she drowns herself in the mire behind the inn. The story is cleverly written, and is available in English here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14593/14593-h/14593-h.htm#KAREN

-- reen8  10/21/2008

This name seems quite middle aged and youthful at the same time. It seems less chavvy than the rhyming Sharon and more suitable for a child than the similar sounding Carol.

-- Anonymous User  10/26/2008

Karen was the name of the main character in "The Red Shoes," a fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. Her red shoes will not let her stop dancing as a punishment for her vanity. In the end her feet are cut off and she becomes a very humble, religious person.

-- britto08  2/20/2009

I'd really wish every single website about names did some actual research (like Behind the Name) and stopped stating that the meaning of Katherine and its variants is "pure." The meaning of the original name is very much uncertain, and if did originate from the Greek "katharos", it would be more appropriate to attach its meaning to the more literal sense of the word: catharsis.

-- saveoursoulissa  8/5/2009

Karen Blixen, also called Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa. She ran a coffee plantation in Kenya by herself for years.

-- dramaelf  11/10/2009

Comments for KAREN (2):

Could this possibly be confused with "Karayan", which is a current Armenian name which means 'the dark one'? It should be noted that Karayan is the masculine version of 'Karyan', another Armenian name, but I have encountered a male Karyan and heard of a female Karayan, so they may be both masculine and feminine.

-- Anonymous User  2/22/2006

In Armenian, the name “KAR” is masculine. Kar HAYKAZUNI, 1289-1285 Before Common Era, King of Armenia (in the Hittite accounts is mentioned as Karanni, 14th century B.C.E.).

In Armenian, the name “KAREN” is masculine and its origin has two roots.
--- The first root: the masculine given Armenian name “Karen” is formed from “Kar”, which is the given name of King of Armenia - Kar HAYKAZUNI (1289-1285 Before Common Era).
[*Haykazuni dynasty (2492 / 2107 - 331 Before Common Era) - (Haykazian, Haykides) - The first dynasty of Patriarchs, Lords and Kings of Armenia.]

--- The second root: in Armenian, the origin of masculine name “Karen” lies in Parthian/Persian name “Karen”.

In Armenia the masculine given name “Karen” is associated with “Elephant” (wise and battle/fighting elephant) or “Commander/Military leader” [adalid/caudillo (Spanish) – heerführer/ feldherr (German) – général/stratège (French) – condottiero/stratega (Italian)].
(Eastern Armenian pronunciation: “Garen”)

In Armenia the masculine given name “Karekin” is associated with “The Fire of Holy/Sacred Knowledge”.
(Eastern Armenian pronunciation:“Garegin”)

http://www.csn-web.com/kar-Karen/kar-Karen.htm

-- kar  10/24/2008

Key: Meaning/History Usage Pronunciation Famous Bearer Personal Impression Other

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