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Karlyn

#6,678 in 2025Girls' name

Variant of Carolyn

Karlyn has been given to 2,392 babies in the U.S. since 1924. In 2025 it ranked #6,678 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1992, with 51 recorded.

Babies named Karlyn, 2025

1 in 195,000

Karlyn over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Karlyn: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Carolyn

Germanic languages

What Karlyn means

Karlyn is a variant of Carolyn.

Origin, language, and formation

Karlyn is used in English. Its origins include Germanic languages.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Carolyn.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,385 girls were recorded with the name Karlyn between 1924 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 51 in 1992; its best national rank was #1,792 in 1968.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,661 in 2020 to #6,678 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #5,744 in 2015 to #6,678 in 2025.

In the United States, 7 boys were recorded with the name Karlyn between 1996 and 1996. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1996; its best national rank was #7,551 in 1996.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Karlyn?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 195,000
17 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 94,500
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#6,678
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
135,172 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Karlyn sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 135,172 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Karlyn. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Karlyns were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Karlyn was born before 1985 — so the typical Karlyn is around 40 today.

Median birth year
1985
About 40 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
16.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
25.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,094
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 16.6% of all recorded uses (397).

Is Karlyn rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+4,944
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,983
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−934
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.74×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
33.3%
Peak was 1992 (51)
Years since peak
33
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,792
1968

Spellings of Karlyn

Karlyn is not the most common spelling — Karen is, with 32.7% against Karlyn's 0.08%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Karlyn is used

Across 1910–2025, Karlyn was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 539,740 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Florida1 in —
  3. 3Illinois1 in —
  4. 4Missouri1 in —
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in —
  6. 6Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Karlyn has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Karlyn around the world

Where Karlyn ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Scotland
    1975–1989
    #576
    in 1989
  • France
    2008–2008
    #4,849
    in 2008
  • Canada
    1991–2006
    #2,331
    in 2006
  • South Australia
    1982–1988
    #657
    in 1988

Popularity data from National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Karlyn by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#6,678
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,983
Best rank ever
#1,792
1968
Peak year
1992
51 that year
First recorded
1924
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,385
Count in 2025
17

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,551
1996
Peak year
1996
7 that year
First recorded
1996
Last recorded
1996
All-time count
7
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Karlyn

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KaralynKarolynKarilynKarelynKarimeKarmynKarymeKarelyKarsonKarsenKarenaKarimaKarterKarineKarismaKarminKarynaKarmenKarleyKareenaMadlynAdilynCaelynMaelyn

Names with a curve like Karlyn

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Karlyn, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

JulienneSulemaJanieceMariluLucilaRayleneRaeleneJeanelleDenniseJulieannRonniLanna

Sibling names for Karlyn

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Karlyn

Top names of 1992, Karlyn's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1968Girls' names starting with K