Kareem
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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.
How popular is Kareem around the world?
In the United States, 2,438 babies were named Kareem between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 65 boys named Kareem were born in 2024, the 468th most common name among boys that year.
Kareem is on the official records of the United States, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Mexico City, Austria and Spain.
United States
1 in 8,900
In the United States, 2,438 babies were named Kareem between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kareem peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 5,600
In Canada, 65 boys named Kareem were born in 2024, the 468th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 7,400
In England and Wales, 79 boys named Kareem were born in 2025, the 487th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 boys named Kareem were born in 2025, the 676th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 boys named Kareem were registered in 2024, the 727th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Mexico City City
1 in 17,000
In Mexico City, there were 7 registrations of Kareem in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Austria
1 in 38,000
In Austria, 2 boys named Kareem were born in 2025, ranked 1,241st among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 1.2M
In Spain, 36 residents are named Kareem, ranked 18,982nd among men, with a mean age of 25.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2022
Kareem is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
last on record 2003
Kareem is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Poland
last on record 2016
Kareem is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
South Australia
last on record 2016
Kareem is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and New Zealand: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
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.
Where Kareem travels
African American · A beloved African American classic strongly associated with basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Keep exploring
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.
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