LEYTE, PHILIPPINES - NOVEMBER 20: Premature babies sleep in their cots in the children's and maternity ward at the Eastern Visayas Medical Centre on November 20, 2013 in Leyte, Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan which ripped through the Philippines over a week ago has been described as one of the most powerful typhoons ever to hit land, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. Countries all over the world have pledged relief aid to help support those affected by the typhoon, however damage to the airport and roads have made moving the aid into the most affected areas very difficult. With dead bodies left out in the open air and very limited food, water and shelter, health concerns are growing. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
In 2020, Karens gave “Karen” a bad name and now no one wants to give their baby that name.
The name “Karen” plummeted in popularity in 2020 as fewer newborn girls in the U.S. were named Karen last year, compared to any other year since 1932, according to a report from the Huffington Post. In 2020, Karen fell 171 spots on the popularity list all the way down to No. 831, which was down from No. 660 in 2019.
That decline makes Karen the name with the 14th-biggest decrease on the girls list last year, and marks its lowest ranking on the annual Social Security Administration list since the year 1927.
If y’all really want to get into the numbers, the name was at its peak as the third most popular name for girls back in 1965 when there were nearly 33,000 newborn Karens. But in 2020, there were only 325 baby girls named Karen, and 439 in 2019.
Despite a steady decline over the years, experts say the recent drop in the rankings is likely because of the name being tied to white women who throw fits and demand to speak to store managers, in addition to white privilege and white supremacy.
Just in recent months, we had “Soho Karen,” “Courtside Karen” and St. Louis “Karen,” the woman who pointed her gun at Black Lives Matter protesters as they marched. “Karen” is even getting a whole movie for her infamy.
This isn’t the first time current events have affected the popularity of a name. Katrina and Isis for example, fell off the Top 1,000 ranking after negative news coverage around those names due to Hurricane Katrin and the terrorist group, according to HuffPost.
Guess only time will tell if Karen dips out of the Top 1,000 baby girl names. We’ll keep you posted.
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