Karma

Meaning & origin●

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◐

Karma is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name32K records spelled Karma9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Australia, Canada

  Languages: English, Danish, Swedish

  Also written Karmâ, Ķarma, Kãrmâ

• a separate given name24K records spelled Karma2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Morocco, United Kingdom

  Also written Karmā

69 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●

Karma is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• From the Sanskrit word (meaning ‘action’ or ‘effect’) used in Hinduism and Buddhism to refer to the principle by which a person’s actions in this world determine the fate that awaits him or > EN kK ky Al Ps her after death. In English the word is sometimes used more loosely to refer to the processes of destiny, and it has sometimes been chosen as a given name with reference to this idea.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• moon of destiny. attaining destiny; successful.

  as a name·The Penguin book of Hindu names for boys

• In English, The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.

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

• In Arabic, vine, grapevine, kind, generous

  as a name·A Dictionary of Muslim Names

• Kala (N)

  as a name·Sunama Sarit (Hindi) Ten Thousand Sanskrit Names

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) — 108 years between 1915–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Karma Chávezb. 1978USAmerican rhetorical critic and professor
• Aftab Purevalb. 1982USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician and lawyer
• C'est Karmab. 2001LULuxembourgish singer

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 · 497 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Karma?

We estimate roughly 5.8 thousand people bear Karma (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Karma have the most bearers?

Karma is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled karma.

Is Karma a male or female name?

Karma is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Karma mean?

Recorded meaning: Niger: market town on the Niger River near Niamey.