girl's name
Karine
ka-REEN
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 124,830
Scotland
#769
1994 births
Karine peaked at 11,665 French births in 1972 — the largest single-year figure of any name in this group — and now ranks 7381st. Its meaning depends on which of two unrelated parents it took.
- Karine is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1972, when 11,665 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 117,911 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1939.
Karine over time
Births per decade in France, 1930s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1930s | 5 |
| 1940s | 80 |
| 1950s | 485 |
| 1960s | 17,685 |
| 1970s | 82,040 |
| 1980s | 16,625 |
| 1990s | 3,355 |
| 2000s | 635 |
| 2010s | 165 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 45 |
What Karine means
Karine means pure if taken from Catherine, or beloved if taken from Karen and Carina. Neither parent has a settled meaning, and the two are unrelated to each other.
Where Karine comes from
Karine is a French form of the Scandinavian Karin, itself a form of Katarina and so of Catherine — whose Greek original Aikaterine has never been securely derived, the pure reading being a later association with katharos, clean. A second line runs through the Latin carus, dear, which gives Carina and the Italian cara. French absorbed both, so the name has two possible parents with two unsettled meanings between them.
Karine in use
Karine peaked in France in 1972, when 11,665 babies were registered — the largest single-year figure of any name in this group by a wide margin — and is falling in our data. It charts in two of the seven markets we track, at 7381st in France on 5 births and 14865th in the United States on 6, across 124,830 lifetime births. A very tall, very narrow French curve, as with Christelle and Laetitia.
How popular is Karine?
In 2025, Karine was given to 5 babies in France. It is a rare choice.
Where Karine is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Karine is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Kariné | Kariné is a rare spelling of Karine, written with an acute accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Karine
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Karine also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Karine over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Karine in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Karine
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Karine — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Karine
What does the name Karine mean?
Pure through Catherine, or beloved through Carina. Neither parent has a settled meaning.
Is Karine related to Karen?
Both descend from Katarina, so yes — by the Catherine route.
Does Catherine mean pure?
Not originally. That came from a later association with the Greek katharos.
How popular was Karine?
It peaked in France in 1972 at 11,665 births, the largest figure in this group.
Is Karine a girl's or a boy's name?
Karine is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
Is Karine a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Karine currently ranks #7,381 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.