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Kareen

Girl name · 38 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Kareen: 38 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 6 births in 1976.

Kareen is a name with multiple origins, most commonly encountered as a French or Scandinavian form of Karen, itself a Danish diminutive of Katherine. Katherine ultimately derives from the Greek *katharos*, meaning “pure.” The name also appears as a variant of the Irish *Ciarán*, meaning “little dark one.” A notable bearer is Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary American basketball player who later changed his name upon converting to Islam; his original birth name was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. While he is most famous as Kareem, the "Kareen" spelling has a distinct echo of his early career. The name shares its root syllable with the Irish place name Kareen, a townland in County Cork, though this stems from the Gaelic *cearr* meaning “left-handed.”