Koreen

Meaning & origin

Koreen is a 20th-century American coinage that first appeared in Social Security records in 1941. Its most popular year was 1973, with a modest peak during the mid-20th century when -een endings were fashionable. The name has remained consistently rare, never breaking into the top 1000. Despite its low rank, it has persisted steadily into the 2020s, appealing to parents seeking an uncommon but familiar-sounding name. The trajectory shows stability in recent decades, with no major revival but continued use. Koreen's style aligns with other -een names like Doreen and Maureen, which shared a similar peak in the 1930s and 1940s. It has not been concentrated in any particular geographic region, as no top states were recorded, suggesting an even if sparse distribution across the country.

Koreen is a modern American respelling of Coreen, which itself is a variant of Corrine or Corinna. Corinna is the Latin form of the Greek Korinna, a feminine diminutive of Korē meaning 'maiden'. Alternatively, it may be an anglicization of the Irish name Córa or an invented 20th-century name. Its usage in the United States began in the 1940s and peaked in the 1970s, reflecting the era's preference for names ending in -een.