Alternative names to Karen

[StarsieZ]

My mum recently passed away, I had never thought of using her name to name any future daughters but the question came up the other day from a friend and it's made me question it. Alas, my mums name was 'Karen' and I am not going to name my child that even as a middle name.

Does anyone have any ideas as to names that are similar/nickname etc that I might use? My mum didn't have a middle name either so that's out too, I did think of 'Wren' but that's as far as I've got.

Thanks for any advice/ideas 😊

Karina? Kirsten? Karen is originally a Danish form of Katherine I believe, so you could use that.

What a shame that a name shared by many thousands of perfectly normal nice women has been hijacked in this unpleasant way and rendered unusable. So misogynistic. Wouldn't it be safe enough for a middle name though?

Sorry about your Mum. It's a difficult time, let alone being pregnant. What about Wren Kay or Wren Katherine? Or use Katherine as a first name and Wren as a middle name, although she might be nicknamed K Wren. It is very tricky, but Wren is a beautiful name.
Best wishes for you and your baby.

Karena?

I think Karen is a lovely name. But I can understand that given the current negative connotations, you’d prefer not to use that name.

How about Carrie instead? It sounds similar to Karen, but it’s not too similar to give your future DD a separate name and identity.

Carina
Caroline
Cara

And sorry for your loss

Thanks for the replies so far, it's been a really hard time, I've only just found out I'm pregnant, she only died 2 months ago, it's been really tough so far, she was only 65, diagnosed in January with stage 4 cancer and she was gone 5 months later, we also lived on different sides of the world for the last 6 years, I'm sure it won't get much easier for the rest of it.

It really is a shame but my mum wouldn't have wanted me to use the name 'Karen' if she was around because of what has happened to the name.

I will definitely have a look into all the suggestions, thank you x

Kay

💐🕯

Kerenza
Karin
Keren

Wren is such a pretty, lovely name, with a beautiful link to the natural world, I really love it.

Wren is lovely.

As a PP said, it looks as though Karen is originally derived from Katherine. I would therefore use Katherine, as the names will have the same meaning and the pronunciation is close.

It is really horrible what has happened to the name Karen. I agree with whoever said it was a misogynistic term now.

The name Wren has come from almost nowhere and is very popular right now. It's a nice name but I suspect it will date quite badly if that's any concern (it may not bother you).

I'm so sorry for your loss OP. I think Katherine works well. For what it's worth though, if we have another girl the middle name will be Karyn so I think having it as a middle name would be fine.

Wren is lovely.
Also like Katherine, Kay and Kari.

One other suggestion - Kerensa is a Cornish name that apparently means 'love'. That could be a nice alternative.

Some people also apparently spell it Karensa, which would incorporate your mother's entire name, though I suspect this might be a misspelling. (I don't know enough about Cornish names).

I like the Danish version. Spelled the same but with the pronunciation different. Essentially CAR-ren. As in Karen Blixen.

Misogynistic arseholes making a perfectly lovely name unusable.

What about her surname? Could that work as a middle name?

Unfortunately not, it's definitely not a name I could use, even for a boy x

sorry For your loss.
did your mum have a middle name?What about her maiden name or her mum's name?

I think Karen is a lovely name. I would use it, or Katherine if you really feel you can’t. But I think it’s important to reclaim a perfectly nice name from ageist misogyny. Wren is particularly cringey, so not that.

I know a few Karen's. It's a lovely name. I'd just use it, or use wren.

Long shot, but did your mum have a nickname or did anyone ever call her by a pet name. Just thinking if her parents/ your dad called her their angel or something you could turn that into Angela or Angelica, if it was Poppet you could call the baby Poppy - that type of thing?

Katherine Wren is pretty.

Keren.