Outnumbered - why is Karen named, "Karen"

[SheilaBirling]

Why does the character of Karen have this name? Her brothers and Jake and Ben, so shouldn't she be called something like Grace/Georgia/Lucy etc etc?

[IWantMyHatBack]

Why not?

[Greenandcabbagelooking]

Maybe it’s Sue’s best friend’s name? Sue, Angela and Karen are about the same vintage. Or it’s Sue’s middle name?

[ConciseandNice]

Hmmm I remember commenting on this to my husband a long time ago. It is strange and doesn’t fit. I’m thinking the story is that she’s named after a relative.

[thegreylady]

It suits her though 🙂

[NapQueen]

The writers explained this a while back - they let the actor kids pick their own character names. Its heavily ad libbed too.

[MarthaArthur]

I love karen in this and love the name karen as a result. No idea why shes called it though

[Undervaluedandsad]

I think the child actors chose their own names.

[ifigoup]

I know what you mean, but the character of Karen is such an unusual child that it doesn’t seem as odd as it might do.

[KM99]

Because Karen is THE best name 😉

[NapQueen]

Other random outnumbered facts - the writer is also the voice of dr elephant in Peppa pig.

The two leads are now partners and living together.

[Fabricwitch]

I don't really know what you mean tbh. I know a sibling group with a Karen and a Ben, is it that Jake doesn't go with Karen for some reason?

[Skimbleskanks]

Omg I love her even more if she picked the name Karen for herself!

Which two leads are now living together? I hope you mean the parents, not Karen and one of the brothers

[user1471517900]

I am confused about what the issue is here? Why is Karen a problem name?

[NapQueen]

Hah yeah the parents!

[NapQueen]

Maybe because they arent all of the same generation. Ben is classic, Jake relatively modern, and Karen is quite 80s.

They may as well be Tom, Kaden and Tracy.

[IAmTheWifeOfMaoTseTung]

It is odd.

Even more pedantic is my mother’s consistent irritation with the fact that Ramona has brown eyes. I always responded with the comments that a) it’s not completely impossible for 2 blue eyed parents to have a brown eyed child, just very unlikely and b) you can’t really expect a very young actor to wear coloured contacts for the duration of filming. But she never got over the annoyance.

[lazyhazysummer]

Karen who???

[mimibunz]

Karen isn’t 80s, it’s early to mid 60s.

[SheilaBirling]

Thank you - there is not a problem with the name Karen, it is more that the names Ben and Jake seem more aspirational and Karen seems dated and more prosaic.

[IAmTheWifeOfMaoTseTung]

According to a fan wiki it’s short for Kathryn but I dunno whether that’s reliable. The answer to why it’s a problem is that she was born in 2001/2002 and pretty much no one was christened Karen in 2001.

[Slimmingsnake]

Excellent series ..cant wait for the next one

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

Are they making another series? Not sure if it will work - it started to lose its appeal for me when the kids grew bigger than the parents!

But it was/is a brilliant programme.

[MadisonAvenue]

I've always thought it odd too, although it makes sense if it's true that the children chose their character names.

[wheezing]

Ha I always wondered this too. I love the explanation that she picked it herself though!

I wonder if there were any Karens born in 2000 or so at all...!

[KM99]

I'm a Karen (born in the 70s). It is derived from the name Katherine. I don't know any Karens who are much younger than me so it's a bold choice 😊