Karim (name)

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For a list of people with this name, see Karim.

Karim (also transliterated as Kareem) is a common male name. Karim is of Arabic origin كريم (generous, noble) from the root ك ر م (to be generous, to honor, to praise). If preceded by the Arabic definitive article al, the name becomes al-Karim which is one of the 99 names (attributes) of God in Islamic mysticism, therefore al-Karim (The Most Generous, The Most Noble) is never used as a personal name.

Following the normal way of deriving female nouns in Arabic, adding -ah to the end of the word transforms it into the female equivalent karimah كريمة (h silent) which is also a common female name in Arabic speaking countries.

Although most commonly a Muslim name it is not strictly so. Karim is a highly popular name in Arab and Islamic countries, even though complete statistics are lacking the name is believed to be third most popular in Egypt after Mohammed and Ahmed. The name is also common among European Muslims and African-Americans of all religions.

Also, in Turkey this name is used in forms of Kerim and Kerem. Because Turkish is written in Latin script, those Turkish versions Kerim and Kerem are written in the same way as seen. Also, the pronounciation of Kerim and Kerem are different from the Arabic version. Kerim: kɛɹim and Kerem: kɛɹɛm