Given name & surname · also Sanskrit
Karan
“one who is pure; chaste”
Karan is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “one who is pure; chaste.”
Original GreekΚαράν
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “one who is pure; chaste.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Sanskrit.
How it developed
The name draws on Sanskrit karna, meaning “ear”.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1936. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Karan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 4,962
- 1,512 boys · 3,450 girls
- Most popular year
- 1956
- 170 babies
- 2025
- 12
- #7,005 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −13%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 12 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 7,005 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 12.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 78 in 1995. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 7,018 as a first name in 2020; 871 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Karan’s family of names
In English usage, Karan shares an earlier linguistic root with Karna. In English usage, Karan has a related form in Karen. In Greek usage, Karan as a surname is a transliteration of Καράν.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Karan
- Karan JoharIndian film director and producerborn 1972
- Karan BrarAmerican actorborn 1999
- Karan Singh GroverIndian model, television and film actor (born 1982)
- Karan SinghIndian politicianborn 1931
- Karan SoniIndian-American actorborn 1989
- Karan AshleyAmerican actressborn 1975
- Karan WahiIndian actor (born 1986)born 1984
- Karan KundrraIndian actorborn 1984
- Karan KapoorIndian actorborn 1962
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Karan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Vyron
Vyron is a masculine given name from Greek, ultimately from English.
>99% boys
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“one who is queenly”
96% boys · 4% girls
Jerome
“of the sacred name”
>99% boys
Nicomedes
“one who thinks of victory”
>99% boys
Theron
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99% boys · 1% girls
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“one who is in excess of glory”
>99% boys
Seferino
“of the west wind”
>99% boys