The Death of Karen

Since before World War 2, the Social Security Administration (SSA) of America has kept a database of baby names, the de facto result of the birth certificate and social security application process completed by parents of newborn children. This database is analysed by statisticians who track the rises and falls in popularity of baby names. Anything in the top 1000 is considered to be popular. Outside that coveted elite, your name is probably something like Ian and you suck. Mine's exactly like Ian. It's Ian.... I suck.

Whilst there are several faves which hover around the top of the charts year in and year out (your Emma's, Charlottes, Williams and Liams...), driven in large part by social media trends, others peak and wane alongside the public profiles of celebrities or pop culture characters. A few years ago, Khaleesi became a by-word for a strong, tenacious, independent, fair, warrior queen as a result of Game Of Thrones' popular character. The hundreds of parents who proudly named their offspring after her might have clenched up a little when she eventually went completely batshit, indiscriminately burning buildings to the ground and killing innocents by the dozen.

Amongst the Chads, Beckys and Felicias whose mega-memed mockery has seen them consigned to the scrapheap of popularity in the pandemic era (“Bye Felicia”), the biggest hit has to have been taken by Karen. Once the third most popular name in the US, albeit in the 60s, the 2020 SSA list saw the already declining choice plummet 167 places to #828. Just 329 babies or 0.019% of female births in the US got Karenned.

It's unsurprising given the whipping the name has received online of late. Initially becoming shorthand for a “basic” middle aged white woman with an inherent and sometimes extrovert sense of entitlement, as videos of “Karens” misbehaving in public kept going viral, the negative connotations compounding to the point that Karen developed into a mainstream trope - Karens losing their shit in restaurants, on public transport, in queues in Starbucks, at sports events.... Perhaps exacerbated by the heightened stressors of the pandemic era, 2020 saw rampant and widespread Karenning and its documentation become a ubiquitous feature of the social media landscape. #KarensGoneWild.

The Karen haircut was swiftly identified; a blonde inverted bob or “lob”, long in the front, short in the back - a sharp, angular affair appropriately emblematic of the abrasively rude and cocksure attitude of its owner.

Whilst some would argue its reductive insensitivity and at least 329 little girls will soon join the throng of Karens adjusting to life with a lightning rod as a moniker, the phenomenon of calling out Karens online, like so much in the memesphere, has raised a million knowing smiles whilst drawing attention to contentious behaviours and archaic attitudes we'd do well to eradicate.  

Several “Coughing Karens” caught on camera having meltdowns when asked to mask up in stores or eateries highlighted the battle lines drawn between pro and anti maskers and vaxxers at the height of the pandemic. The Karen stereotype is not one troubled by the rigours of mainstream scientific consensus. She knows best and God help you if you suggest otherwise.

Perhaps the most famous and rightly vilified “Karen” was the Central Park Karen, Amy Cooper, whose deeply unsettling call to the police was calmly videotaped by her supposed assailant, a polite bird watcher who'd asked her to put her dog on a lead, according to park rules. As Cooper drums herself into a near-hysterical fervour during the 911 call in which she repeatedly highlights her alleged aggressor's African American status, all the while throttling her increasingly panicky dog, now on a short leash, the world got another queasy look at America's problems with systemic racism and white privilige. The fact the Central Park incident occurred the same day as George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis make it all the more resonant as a puzzle piece of the BLM movement. Myriad other videos exist of public altercations where incensed Karens belie their entrenched, perceived racial superiority, collated online as a testament to the deep divisions America and the wider west is now reckoning with.

Although more recent SSA data is currently unavailable (can someone please have a word with the manager?!), given its 2020 poor performance in the list and its subsequent and prolonged online pummelling, one has to assume Karen is no longer a staple of the hallowed 1000. Perhaps 2022 marks the first year no newborn babies begin life as Karen?  It was probably getting on a bit anyway right?.... Or is it all a bit ridiculous? Have TikTok and Instagram unjustly ruined the reputation of a perfectly pleasant name? Perhaps new parents will ignore the hate and go with their hearts? Well it's hardly Adolf, but it seems it's probably still too easy a target when so many other names are available which haven't run afoul of the Game of Memes.

It would take a hell of an inspiring Karen to course correct now and bring it back into anything resembling public favour.
A strong, tenacious, independent, fair, warrior quee....

...oh shit!

Bye Karen.