Kareem

What Kareem means

Variant of Karim, meaning “noble, generous”

variant of Karim || From Arabic كَرِيم (karīm, “noble, generous”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Kareem” (revision 88280478) and “Karim” (revision 94540716), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Kareem?

US: Steady: #731 in 2015, #701 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #601 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1977, when 449 boys got the name (#367 that year). First in the US records in 1964.

How common

• About 1 in 4,460 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,442 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MI (0.67 per 1,000 boys), IL (0.57 per 1,000 boys), NJ (0.5 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Kareem is #701 in the US and #487 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Kareem were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Karim198 US · 66 E&W
• Karam105 US · 54 E&W
• Kerem30 US · 22 E&W
• Careem8 US
• Karym5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Kareem

Boys

• Salem#679Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #679 vs #1,359 in 2025
• Idris#694Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #142 vs #694 in 2025
• Imran#969Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1970, with 8 babies
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Musa#469Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #64 vs #469 in 2025
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*

For a sister

• Aisha#337Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #106 vs #337 in 2025
• Salem#435Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,425 in 2015, #435 in 2025
• Khadija#980Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #146 vs #980 in 2025
• Maryam#351Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #52 vs #351 in 2025
• Amira#132“princess”^*
• Alia#587Feminine form of Ali, meaning “high, exalted”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Kareem’s. Rank is US 2025.