Kareem
Meaning
“'generous, noble'”
The story
Kareem is an alternate transcription of the Arabic Karim, which means "generous, noble", from the root karuma, "to be generous"; in Islamic tradition al-Karim is one of the ninety-nine names of Allah. Behind the Name's famous bearer is the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, born in 1947. The American record shows a line that arrived and then simply held: about 18 boys in the 1960s, about 2,970 in the 1970s, and then five consecutive completed decades all landing between about 2,970 and about 3,380, with about 2,440 more so far this decade. Generosity in the meaning, one of the ninety-nine names behind it, a legend of the sport on the receipt, and a record that found its level fifty years ago and kept it.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kareem peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
When you meet Kareem
Most people given the name Kareem in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Kareem deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kareem truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Kareem fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Kareem travels
African American · A beloved African American classic strongly associated with basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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