Recorded 1964–2025 · United States
Kareem was most popular in 1980, when 480 American babies were given the name — ranking #806 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,418, with 383 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 18,359 people named Kareem.
Kareem first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1964, which makes it about 61 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 59 of the 62 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 18,359 American births named Kareem between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 17,702 are estimated to be alive today.
383 American babies were named Kareem in 2025, ranking #1,418 that year.
Kareem is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 404 births a year, against 325 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +24% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Kareem is a boy’s name — 1.1% of the 18,359 Americans given it were girls and 98.9% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 17,702 Americans named Kareem are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 26 years old, and half are between 12 and 41.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kareem on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org