Caren

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Caren is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name7.2K records spelled Caren3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Timor-Leste

  Also written Carén, Cáren

• French given name2.6K records spelled Caren3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Philippines, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Carèn

• Indonesian given name1.9K records spelled Caren3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Cáren

• Croatian given name590 records spelled Caren7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, United Kingdom

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian

  Also written Carén

61 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Caren is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Welsh, first/third-person plural conditional colloquial of caru

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, a female given name, a less common variant of Karen

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 85 years between 1925–2019. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Caren Marsh Dollb. 1919USactress, dancer, last surviving actress from the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz"
• Caren Kayeb. 1951USactress
• Caren Metschuckb. 1963DEEast German swimmer
• Caren Kemnerb. 1965USformer American volleyball player and current coach
• Caren Jungjohannb. 1967DEfield hockey player
• Caren Miosgab. 1969DEGerman journalist and television presenter
• Caren Lissnerb. 1972USnovelist
• Caren Layb. 1972DEGerman politician
• Caren Gussoffb. 1973USAmerican writer
• Caren Pistoriusb. 1990ZASouth African actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 454 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Caren?

We estimate roughly 18 thousand people bear Caren (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Caren have the most bearers?

Caren is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled caren.

How common is Caren compared with other names?

In Uruguay, Caren is the 435th most common given name of 13,897 given names recorded there.

Is Caren a male or female name?

Caren is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Caren mean?

Recorded meaning: A female given name from Ancient Greek, a less common spelling of Karen.