'Karen' Plunges In Popular Baby Names List Following Viral Memes Of Entitled White Women

KEY POINTS

The name’s popularity plunged by 171 spots in 2020 and is now sitting at 831
The fall may be linked to the viral memes depicting entitled white women
"Karen" became a popular label after a Central Park woman called cops on a Black birdwatcher

The name “Karen” has fallen in popularity over the past year after several memes tied it to entitled white women.

The name’s popularity plunged by 171 spots in 2020 and is now sitting at 831. In 2019, “Karen” was at No. 660 on the list of popular baby names, according to the latest data from the Social Security Administration, Huffington Post reported.

In 2020, only 325 babies were named Karen as compared to 439 in 2019. It was the third most popular name for baby girls in 1965 as nearly 33,000 newborns were named Karen.

The plunge may be associated with the recent memes depicting white privilege and white supremacy, Huffington Post said.

The exact origin of the viral meme is undetermined. However, naming entitled white women “Karen” started in May 2020 when Amy Cooper, 41, was caught on a video calling 911 on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park after he asked her to comply with the rules of putting her dog on a leash.

"I'm going to tell them that there is an African-American man threatening my life," Cooper told the Black man before calling the police.

Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020

Days after the incident in Central Park, a TikTok video uploaded by user @savsoares showed a white woman blocking her vehicle where @savsoares was a passenger. The woman was also seen attempting to grab the camera.

When @savsoares remarked that the woman was sitting on the vehicle, the woman dismissed the comment. "I'm not sitting on her car, I'm leaning on it,” the woman said.

In subsequent videos that @savsoares posted, she said the woman walked up to her car even when she put a blinker on to park in an open spot. The woman claimed that she cut in front of her. The woman only got off the car after @savsoares pointed there were two open slots. The Internet named the unidentified woman as “Parking Lot Karen.”

In June 2020, a female customer, who has since been called Queens “Karen,” was seen entering New York City Bagel Coffee House without a mask. Allison Goodbaum, who took the video posted on Facebook, asked an employee to enforce the city’s mask mandate.

The unmasked woman heard the complaint and began yelling. She insisted she had COVID-19 antibodies and proceeded to cough on Goodbaum.

"I know there are bigger problems in the nation right now but more and more it seems the people who are just trying to stand up for the right things are getting bulldozed by bullies,” Goodbaum wrote in the post.