Karsten
given name · Latin script
Meaning: from Christianus; variant of Kirsten/Kersten, included to show differing vowel realization in the surname cluster
Recorded as a male name· opposite-gender records fall within measured source noise
/kaʁstn̩/(machine-generated) pronunciation, model-generated
Karsten is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in Germany than in any other country.
- DEGermany≈1 in 911(inferred from the name graph)
- NLNetherlands1 in 16K
- USUnited States1 in 99K
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- Germany (inferred from the name graph)
- Sources
- 257 (measured from records)
- 1 in 685 (inferred from the name graph)
≈88,000 people, est.
Highest-authority source
Denmark
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
from Christianus; variant of Kirsten/Kersten, included to show differing vowel realization in the surname cluster.
Sources 1
- Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus
Attested across 12 languages in the etymology graph.
Often considered alongside
Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Karsten, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.
From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.
Where in the world(measured from records)
Karsten counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE Germany | #202 | ≈88,000 est. | ≈1 in 911 | listed | Karsten | 244 |
| DK Denmark | — | 8,566 | 1 in 685 | 8.6K | Karsten | 8 |
| US United States | — | 3,349 | 1 in 99K | 3.1K | Karsten | 257 |
| NO Norway | — | 1,697 | 1 in 3.2K | 5.8K | Karsten | 37 |
| NL Netherlands | — | 1,099 | 1 in 16K | 1.5K | Karsten | 54 |
| TN Tunisia | #879 | ≈1,100 est. | ≈1 in 11K | — | Karsten | 2 |
| CH Switzerland | — | ≈930 est. | ≈1 in 9K | 33 | Karsten | 54 |
Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts); SSB PxWebApi — Persons/Last names by year (StatBank tables 10501/12891); SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population); Meertens NVB — Nederlandse Voornamenbank (all-time BRP bearer counts, 2018); CBG Familienamenbank — Dutch surname bearer counts (GBA/BRP 2007); BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Karsten is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In German, von Carsten/Christian; C/K-Variation. Bearer count: 2571.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
In German, Patronymische Sippenform zu Karsten/Carsten; die Karte zeigt a/ä/e-Vokalvariation. Belege: 1985.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus
In German, ) Carsten: männl. Vom., nie derdeutsche Form von
as a nameDUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen
In French, Variante germanique de Christian, du latin Christianus, « chrétien ».
as a nameDictionnaire généalogique des prénoms
In German, Patronym aus Christian; zeigt C/K-Variation im Anlaut und r-Metathese. Bearer count: 2571.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- Karsten Meyerb. 1937DEGerman sailor
- Karsten Kiilerichb. 1955DKDanish animator and film director (born 1955)
- Karsten Danzmannb. 1955DEGerman physicist
- Karsten Speckb. 1960DEGerman actor
- Karsten Schmelingb. 1962DEEast German rower
- Karsten Braaschb. 1967DEGerman tennis player
- Karsten Justb. 1968DEGerman sprinter
- Karsten Kroonb. 1976NLDutch cyclist
- Karsten Forsterlingb. 1980AUAustralian rower
- Karsten Warholmb. 1996NONorwegian athletics competitor
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them(machine-generated)
A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 68 sources across 30 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DK Denmark | Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts) | — | 8.6K | #82 |
| NO Norway | SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population) | — | 5.8K | #593 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 3.1K | #5,196 |
| NO Norway | SSB PxWebApi — Persons/Last names by year (StatBank tables 10501/12891) | 2025 | 1.7K | — |
| NL Netherlands | Meertens NVB — Nederlandse Voornamenbank (all-time BRP bearer counts, 2018) | — | 1.1K | #996 |
| NL Netherlands | Meertens NVB — Nederlandse Voornamenbank (live per-name BRP counts, 1790-2017) | — | 820 | #2,358 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 204 | #5,196 |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2025 | 25 | — |
| NO Norway | SSB — Navn (1880–present) | 2025 | 24 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2025 | 5 | — |
| NO Norway | SSB — Navn (1880–present) | 1944 | — | — |
Reference works 7
- Dictionary of American Family Names
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Wikipedia given-name tokens
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
- Rymut, Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce używanych (10 vols, IJP PAN, Kraków 1992–1994) — every Polish surname in the PESEL register at the end of 1990, with bearer counts nationally and per voivodeship1990
- Søndergaard, Georg, Danske efternavne (Lademann 1984/1991)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Karsten mean, and where does it come from?
- from Christianus; variant of Kirsten/Kersten, included to show differing vowel realization in the surname cluster. Recorded by Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus.
- What are other forms of the name Karsten?
- In the etymology graph, Christian, Cristian and Kristen are forms of the same name in other languages.
- How do you pronounce Karsten?
- A machine transcription gives /kaʁstn̩/ (IPA) for German.
- Is Karsten a male or female name?
- Karsten is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.
- In which country does Karsten have the most bearers?
- Mondonomo estimates about 88 thousand people named Karsten in Germany, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled karsten.
- Where is Karsten most common?
- Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Karsten is densest in Denmark — about 1 in 685 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.
- How common is the name Karsten?
- In Denmark, the national register counted 8,566 people named Karsten, about 1 in 685 residents.
- How common is Karsten compared with other names?
- In Germany, Karsten is the 202nd most common given name of 156,202 given names recorded there.
What do you want to know about Karsten?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/karstenThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Karsten” — the 202nd most common given name in Germany. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.