Kari

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Kari: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Kari: Recorded every year since 1945, its highest recorded position is #3, and it stood at #222 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
105times a registrar ranked it
81years from first to last
#3highest recorded position
23groupings it qualifies for
19names it appears alongside

What stands out in Kari's record

Ranked every year since 1945, without a single year missing. Names by continuity of record
Held a top-100 place for 43 years running. Names by top-100 run
Held at least one birth in every 2,000 for 22 years. Names by sustained share
Moved 145 places between two consecutive years — its largest recorded change. Names by largest single-year move

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2683
1997	#2738
1998	#2165
1999	#2189
2000	#2167
2002	#2868
2003	#3594
2004	#3725
2006	#2781
2007	#3667
2008	#4524
2010	#3533
2011	#5785
2012	#4838
2013	#5742
2016	#5785
2018	#5666
2019	#4686
2022	#5669
2024	#5891

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in every year from 1945 to 2025.

In 2024: #280 among girls in Norway, #5891 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1945–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1945
First recorded at #4 among girls in Norway in 1945 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Highest recorded1945–2025
Highest recorded position: #3 among girls in Norway, in 1946 (recorded 1945–2025).
Norway · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #222 among girls in Norway, in 2025.
Norway · Girls

Kari appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Girls, which has ranked it in 81 years beginning in 1945, and has registered 20,845 births with the name.

Kari across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Kari's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#4 (1945)	#3 (1946)	#222 (2025)	81 of 81	20,845 (1945–2025)	957 (1946)
England and Wales · Girls	#2683 (1996)	#2165 (1998)	#5891 (2024)	20 of 29	92 (1996–2024)	7 (1998)
England and Wales · Boys	#4685 (2013)	#4685 (2013)	#5119 (2024)	3 of 12	9 (2013–2024)	3 (2013)

Kari by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Kari in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940sbusiest	4,276	5 of 10	855
1950s	6,956	10 of 10	696
1960s	5,190	10 of 10	519
1970s	2,117	10 of 10	212
1980s	1,058	10 of 10	106
1990s	590	10 of 10	59
2000s	337	10 of 10	34
2010s	211	10 of 10	21
2020s	110	6 of 10	18

Across Norway · Girls, the 1940s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 855 births a year.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Kari appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #3 in Norway in 1959.

Kari's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#5891	3	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#5119	3	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#5669	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#4686	4	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#4702	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#5666	3	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#5785	3	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#5742	3	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#4685	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#4838	4	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#5785	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#3533	6	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#4524	4	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#3667	5	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#2781	7	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#3725	4	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#3594	4	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#2868	5	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#2167	7	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#2189	7	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#2165	7	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#2738	5	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#2683	5	High	Verified
2025	Norway	female	#222	19	High	Verified
2024	Norway	female	#280	14	High	Verified
2023	Norway	female	#175	28	High	Verified
2022	Norway	female	#239	17	High	Verified
2021	Norway	female	#344	9	High	Verified
2020	Norway	female	#199	23	High	Verified
2019	Norway	female	#302	13	High	Verified
2018	Norway	female	#256	17	High	Verified
2017	Norway	female	#246	21	High	Verified
2016	Norway	female	#201	28	High	Verified
2015	Norway	female	#269	19	High	Verified
2014	Norway	female	#297	16	High	Verified
2013	Norway	female	#225	25	High	Verified
2012	Norway	female	#186	31	High	Verified
2011	Norway	female	#245	22	High	Verified
2010	Norway	female	#271	19	High	Verified
2009	Norway	female	#201	30	High	Verified
2008	Norway	female	#207	29	High	Verified
2007	Norway	female	#198	30	High	Verified
2006	Norway	female	#203	29	High	Verified
2005	Norway	female	#199	28	High	Verified
2004	Norway	female	#180	32	High	Verified
2003	Norway	female	#137	46	High	Verified
2002	Norway	female	#135	44	High	Verified
2001	Norway	female	#188	28	High	Verified
2000	Norway	female	#151	41	High	Verified
1999	Norway	female	#142	44	High	Verified
1998	Norway	female	#157	40	High	Verified
1997	Norway	female	#135	52	High	Verified
1996	Norway	female	#127	59	High	Verified
1995	Norway	female	#124	60	High	Verified
1994	Norway	female	#135	54	High	Verified
1993	Norway	female	#126	65	High	Verified
1992	Norway	female	#116	72	High	Verified
1991	Norway	female	#109	78	High	Verified
1990	Norway	female	#125	66	High	Verified
1989	Norway	female	#85	94	High	Verified
1988	Norway	female	#104	71	High	Verified
1987	Norway	female	#84	90	High	Verified
1986	Norway	female	#79	90	High	Verified
1985	Norway	female	#76	97	High	Verified
1984	Norway	female	#72	103	High	Verified
1983	Norway	female	#66	104	High	Verified
1982	Norway	female	#49	144	High	Verified
1981	Norway	female	#51	140	High	Verified
1980	Norway	female	#56	125	High	Verified
1979	Norway	female	#40	161	High	Verified
1978	Norway	female	#43	151	High	Verified
1977	Norway	female	#43	160	High	Verified
1976	Norway	female	#41	177	High	Verified
1975	Norway	female	#39	189	High	Verified
1974	Norway	female	#34	217	High	Verified
1973	Norway	female	#30	243	High	Verified
1972	Norway	female	#34	235	High	Verified
1971	Norway	female	#28	284	High	Verified
1970	Norway	female	#25	300	High	Verified
1969	Norway	female	#17	403	High	Verified
1968	Norway	female	#17	431	High	Verified
1967	Norway	female	#13	456	High	Verified
1966	Norway	female	#11	502	High	Verified
1965	Norway	female	#12	508	High	Verified
1964	Norway	female	#11	532	High	Verified
1963	Norway	female	#7	565	High	Verified
1962	Norway	female	#5	582	High	Verified
1961	Norway	female	#4	609	High	Verified
1960	Norway	female	#5	602	High	Verified
1959	Norway	female	#3	698	High	Verified
1958	Norway	female	#4	613	High	Verified
1957	Norway	female	#5	663	High	Verified
1956	Norway	female	#4	682	High	Verified
1955	Norway	female	#5	666	High	Verified
1954	Norway	female	#5	697	High	Verified
1953	Norway	female	#3	769	High	Verified
1952	Norway	female	#3	729	High	Verified
1951	Norway	female	#4	734	High	Verified
1950	Norway	female	#5	705	High	Verified
1949	Norway	female	#4	804	High	Verified
1948	Norway	female	#5	817	High	Verified
1947	Norway	female	#3	899	High	Verified
1946	Norway	female	#3	957	High	Verified
1945	Norway	female	#4	799	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	female	#503	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1945 and 2025, ranked in 81 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #3, first reached in 1946.

It held a top-100 place in 44 years, 43 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 957 births, registered in Norway in 1946.

1 registrar ranked it inside their own top 10.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1989, and 51 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Karen · #1, 81y
Karena · #349, 25y
Kari-Anne · #140, 40y
Karianne · #64, 56y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Henrik · #3, 81y
Andreas · #1, 81y
Ingrid · #1, 81y
Kristine · #5, 81y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Anders · #3, 81y
Angela · #3, 74y
Anna · #3, 81y
Arthur · #3, 81y

Comparisons involving Kari

Existing comparison pages where Kari and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Kari in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Kari vs Gerd
In 1945 they stood at #4 and #9 in Norway · Girls, 5 places apart; by 2003 they were #137 and #545.
Kari · Gerd · 52 shared years, 1945–2003 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2003 Norway ranking
Kari vs Berit
In 1945 they stood at #4 and #7 in Norway · Girls, 3 places apart; by 2023 they were #175 and #494.
Kari · Berit · 72 shared years, 1945–2023 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2023 Norway ranking
Kari vs Randi
In 1945 they stood at #4 and #11 in Norway · Girls, 7 places apart; by 2025 they were #222 and #522.
Kari · Randi · 75 shared years, 1945–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 Norway ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Kari and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Nina vs Kari
In 1963, Nina moved ahead of Kari in Norway · Girls — #6 and #5 the year before became #5 and #7.
Nina · Kari · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 1963 Norway ranking
Kari vs Mari
In Norway · Girls, Mari moved into the top 50 at #37 in 1980 as Kari fell out of it to #56, having been #40 the year before.
Kari · Mari · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · One took the other's place near the top
See the 1980 Norway ranking

Compared inside Norway lists

Pairs involving Kari measured in Norway's own published lists — the registrar that recorded Kari at its highest position.

Anna vs Kari
Anna and Kari were both ranked in Norway · Girls for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #23 and #222.
Anna · Kari · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Kari vs Astrid
Kari and Astrid were both ranked in Norway · Girls for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #222 and #9.
Kari · Astrid · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking
Kari vs Elin
Kari and Elin were both ranked in Norway · Girls for 81 years, from 1945 to 2025, ending at #222 and #263.
Kari · Elin · 81 shared years, 1945–2025 · Longest-running competitions
See the 2025 Norway ranking

Norway overview→

Kari was ranked #3 in Norway · Girls in 1946. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Kari and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Kari without appearing here.

Kari moved ahead of

Lene Compare
In 2005 they stood at #3725 and #3725 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2006 that had become #2781 and #4157.
Vicki Compare
In 2011 they stood at #3725 and #3197 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #4838 and #5876.
Gail Compare
In 2007 they stood at #3667 and #3667 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2008 that had become #4524 and #5545.
Carol Compare
In 2018 they stood at #5666 and #4684 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #4686 and #5591.

Moved ahead of Kari

Blake Compare
In 2010 they stood at #3667 and #5201 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #5785 and #2893.
Meabh Compare
In 2012 they stood at #4838 and #5876 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #5742 and #2887.
Ezra Compare
In 2010 they stood at #3533 and #5707 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #5785 and #3185.
Finley Compare
In 2021 they stood at #4686 and #5591 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2022 that had become #5669 and #3533.

Moved the opposite way to Kari

Elise Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 while Elise went from #223 to #63.
Ella Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 while Ella went from #137 to #4.
Ellinor Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 while Ellinor went from #102 to #7.
Emma Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 while Emma went from #342 to #1.

Moved the same way as Kari

Åse Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 and Åse from #25 to #93.
Aud Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 and Aud from #13 to #427.
Bjørg Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 and Bjørg from #6 to #369.
Eileen Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Kari went from #4 to #222 and Eileen from #324 to #501.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #3 in Norway in 1959. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Kari

Kari at a glance

What stands out in Kari's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Kari across 3 official records

Kari by decade in Norway · Girls

Kari appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Kari

Longest shared records

Order changes

Compared inside Norway lists

Names published alongside Kari

Kari and the names beside it

Kari moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kari

Moved the opposite way to Kari

Moved the same way as Kari

Kari at a glance

What stands out in Kari's record

Kari across 3 official records

Kari by decade in Norway · Girls

Kari appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Comparisons involving Kari

Longest shared records

Order changes

Compared inside Norway lists

Names published alongside Kari

Kari and the names beside it

Kari moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kari

Moved the opposite way to Kari

Moved the same way as Kari