MEANING & CONTEXT
What does Karan mean?
Karna, the Mahabharata son of Kunti and Surya, supplies the epic identity of the vernacular name Karan. A separate Sanskrit word karaṇa means an instrument or means of action. The epic name karṇa literally denotes an ear.
Pronunciation
IAST: karana
Spellings in Indian scripts
Devanagari
करन
Letter-by-letter: karana
Conventional spelling
Devanagari
करण
Letter-by-letter: karaṇa
47,392 records for this spelling. Historical records ↗
HISTORICAL VOTER RECORDS
Karan in Indian usage
126,788 historical electoral-roll records, chiefly adults, rather than current baby-name rankings.
Mostly recorded for boys (98.3%) in these historical records.
- Recorded as female: 2,119 records (1.7%).
- Recorded as male: 124,669 records (98.3%).
By birth decade
| Birth decade | Records |
|---|---|
| 1930s | 1,260 |
| 1940s | 4,351 |
| 1950s | 8,725 |
| 1960s | 14,467 |
| 1970s | 16,812 |
| 1980s | 30,428 |
| 1990s | 50,440 |
| Other decades | 305 |
By state or territory
| State / territory | Records |
|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 43,754 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 24,343 |
| Rajasthan | 14,874 |
| Punjab | 10,574 |
| Haryana | 9,613 |
| Bihar | 9,201 |
| Jharkhand | 4,035 |
| Uttarakhand | 3,400 |
| Delhi | 2,747 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1,365 |
| Maharashtra | 1,060 |
| Chandigarh | 651 |
| Gujarat | 229 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 133 |
| Meghalaya | 129 |
| Tripura | 108 |
| Goa | 105 |
| Other states | 467 |
How to read these numbers
Small counts and a second count where needed are withheld for privacy; an omitted value is not zero. Coverage, dates and suppression.
Recorded abroad
Official births registered in 2025, for the exact spelling shown.
| Jurisdiction | Spelling / recorded sex | Births | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Karan / M | 8 | 2,664 |
ONS and National Records of Scotland; Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3. Counts follow each office’s publication rules.
Explore related lists
Sources
- Historical Indian voter-record totals, v3 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Historical usage; CC0 1.0; birth years 1910–2001
- England & Wales 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Karan; Table_6, C2801 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Karan; Table_6, C2801
- Monier-Williams, karṇa, p. 256,2 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Monier-Williams, karaṇa, p. 254,1 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Adapted dictionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0.