Kari is either a male or female given name

Given name

A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...

.

In Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Kari is a male name, which was particularly popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The name is derived from the Greek Makarios

Makarios

Makarios is a Greek given name. The old-Greek word Μακάριος makarios is a prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ makar ; supremely blessed; by extension fortunate, well off: - blessed, happy....

 (or Macarius

Macarius

Macarius is a Latinized form of the Greek given name Makarios.It name may refer to:*Macarius of Egypt: Egyptian monk and hermit. Also known as Pseudo-Macarius, Macarius-Symeon, Macarius the Elder, or St...

).

In Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, Kari is a very popular female name. This name is diminutive of Katharine, meaning "pure". The corresponding Swedish and German name is Karin.

In Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, Kári is a male name, based on a Scandinavian god of wind of the same name. The corresponding Norwegian male name is Kåre

KARE

KARE, digital channel 11, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota and portions of western Wisconsin. It also operates KARE WX NOW, formerly known as NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel...

 or Kaare.

Kari is a popular surname in South India. There is a village in Andhra Pradesh, India by name KARIVARI PALEM named after the surname, and there is a village by name Gangavaram which has almost 60% families with this surname.

Kari can also be spelt Kahri.

Males with the given name

• Kari Arkivuo
  Kari Arkivuo
  Kari Arkivuo is a Finnish professional football player who plays as a full back for BK Häcken.-Club career:A product of his local FC Kuusysi, Arkivuo made his senior debut for FC Lahti on 3 May 2001 against Inter. He was able to appear in four league matches during his debut season, scoring once...
  
  , Finnish footballer
• Kari Aronpuro, Finnish poet
• Kari Eisenhut, Swiss glider pilot
• Kari Eloranta
  Kari Eloranta
  Kari Eloranta is a retired footballer and professional ice hockey player who played 267 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues.- External links :...
  
  , Finnish footballer and ice hockey player
• Kari Enqvist
  Kari Enqvist
  Kari-Pekka Enqvist is a professor of cosmology in the Department of Physical Sciences at the University of Helsinki...
  
  , Finnish physicist and writer
• Kari Franck, Finnish actor
• Kari Hakala, Finnish actor
• Kari Heiskanen, Finnish actor and director
• Kari Hietalahti, Finnish actor
• Kari Hirvonen, Finnish actor and tango dancer
• Kari Hotakainen
  Kari Hotakainen
  Kari Hotakainen is a Finnish writer. Hotakainen started his writing career as a reporter in Pori. In 1986, he moved to Helsinki. He became a full-time writer in 1996. He has two children with his wife, sound technician Tarja Laaksonen, whom he married in 1983...
  
  , Finnish writer
• Kari Häkämies, Finnish politician
• Kari Härkönen
  Kari Härkönen
  Kari Härkönen is a former Finnish cross country skier who competed during the early 1980s. He won two medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a gold in the 15 km in 1985 and a bronze in the 4 x 10 km...
  
  , Finnish skier
• Kari Jalonen
  Kari Jalonen
  Kari Jalonen is a former professional ice hockey center. He played parts of two seasons at the NHL level, with the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, but is best known for his time in SM-liiga and with the Finnish national team.Jalonen represented Finland internationally on nine occasions,...
  
  , Finnish ice hockey coach
• Kari Kairamo
  Kari Kairamo
  Kari Antero Oswald Kairamo, titled Vuorineuvos , was a Chairman and CEO of Nokia Corporation and a significant and popular person in the industry, who was also actively involved in Finland's foreign policy.-Career:Kari Kairamo had a Master's degree in engineering...
  
  , former CEO of Nokia
• Kari Ketonen, Finnish actor
• Kari Korhonen
  Kari Korhonen
  Kari Korhonen is a Finnish cartoonist known for his stories about Donald Duck.- References :...
  
  , Finnish cartoonist
• Kari Kriikku
  Kari Kriikku
  Kari Kriikku is a Finnish classical clarinetist.He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and later with Alan Hacker in England and with Leon Russianoff and Charles Neidich in the USA....
  
  , Finnish clarinet player
• Kari Kuivalainen
  Kari Kuivalainen
  Kari Kuivalainen is a Finnish singer-songwriter, best known for his participation in the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest.Kuivalainen was primarily a composer rather than a singer, and in 1985 he submitted his song "Haaveissa vainko oot mun?" to the Finnish Eurovision selection, where it was...
  
  , Finnish musician
• Kari Kuuva, Finnish singer and composer
• Kari Lehtomäki, Finnish musician
• Kari Lehtonen
  Kari Lehtonen
  Kari Lehtonen is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League...
  
  , Finnish NHL Goaltender for the Atlanta Thrashers
• Kari Levola, Finnish writer and critic
• Kari Liimo, Finnish basketball player
• Kari Louramo, Finnish runner
• Kari Makkonen
  Kari Makkonen
  Kari Makkonen is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga for Ässät.-Playing career:Kari Makkonen played his entire SM-liiga career for Pori based team Ässät....
  
  , Finnish ice hockey player
• Kari Mannerla
  Kari Mannerla
  Kari Mannerla was a Finnish board and card game designer and advertising agency executive. The most famous game designed by Mannerla is the board game Afrikan tähti , the idea of which he began to develop in 1949. The game was published two years later...
  
  , Finnish game designer
• Kari Mäkinen
  Kari Mäkinen
  Kari Mäkinen is the archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. On 11 March 2010 he was elected the 14th Archbishop of Turku and Finland, and he succeeded Jukka Paarma in that position on 6 June 2010...
  
  , Archbishop of Turku
• Kari Paljakka, Finnish film writer, director and producer
• Kari Peitsamo
  Kari Peitsamo
  Kari Juhani Valdemar Peitsamo is a Finnish musician whose style has changed over the years from acoustic avant-garde pop to electric rock...
  
  , Finnish musician
• Kari Rahkamo, Finnish triathlete and politician
• Kari Rajamäki
  Kari Rajamäki
  Kari Juhani Rajamäki is a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party and a former Minister of the Interior.Rajamäki has been MP since 1983 and represents Southern Savonia...
  
  , Finnish politician
• Kari Ristanen
  Kari Ristanen
  Kari Ristanen was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed during the 1980s. He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 10 km relay at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo....
  
  , Finnish skier
• Kari Rydman, Finnish composer
• Kari Salmelainen, Finnish TV show host
• Kari Sohlberg, Finnish film director
• Kari Streymoy, drummer of Faeroese Viking metal band Tyr
• Kári Stefánsson
  Kári Stefánsson
  Dr. Kári Stefánsson, is an Icelandic neurologist, who is currently the President, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of deCODE Genetics.He was born in 1949 in Iceland-Education and early career:...
  
  , Icelandic founder of deCODE genetics
• Kari Suomalainen
  Kari Suomalainen
  Kari Yrjänä Suomalainen was Finland's most famous political cartoonist. His first cartoon appeared in the start of the year 1950, showing an infant boy contemplating two toys: a tank and a dove carrying an olive branch. The boy is saying: "Tank.....
  
  , Finnish cartoonist
• Kari Takko
  Kari Takko
  Kari Maurits Takko is a retired Finnish ice hockey goaltender.- Playing career :He played six seasons in the NHL, serving as a backup to Don Beaupre, Jon Casey and Bill Ranford. He was selected in the tenth round of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, 200th overall, by the Quebec Nordiques, but was unable...
  
  , Finnish ice hockey goalkeeper
• Kari Tapio
  Kari Tapio
  Kari Tapani Jalkanen , better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. He was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades, selling over 826,000 certified records during his career and posthumously.Tapio was born in Suonenjoki, Finland...
  
  , Finnish singer
• Kari Tiainen
  Kari Tiainen
  Kari Tiainen is a Finnish enduro rider. He is a seven-time World Enduro Champion and held the record for most wins in the world championship , until the record was broken by compatriot Juha Salminen during the 2008 season...
  
  , Finnish motorcycle rider
• Kari S. Tikka
  Kari S. Tikka
  Kari Sulo Tikka was a Finnish legal scholar. He was Professor of Finance Law at the University of Helsinki and one of Finland's leading experts on taxation.-Career:...
  
   (1944 - 2006), Finnish legal scholar, murdered
• Kari Toivonen, Finnish TV news presenter
• Kari Ukkonen
  Kari Ukkonen
  Kari Ukkonen is a Finnish former football player and current football manager. As player, Ukkonen was fielded as defender as well as midfielder....
  
  , Finnish footballer
• Kari Uotila
  Kari Uotila
  Kari Antero Uotila is a Finnish politician and member of Finnish Parliament, representing the Left Alliance. He has been member of parliament two times: 1995-2007 and since 2008.-External links:**...
  
  , Finnish politician
• Kari Uusitalo, Finnish writer
• Kari Virtanen, Finnish carpenter
• Kari Virtanen, Finnish football coach
• Kari Väänänen
  Kari Väänänen
  Kari Väänänen is a Finnish actor. Domestically he is a member of the Ryhmäteatteri group of actors. He was introduced to international audiences by Aki Kaurismäki; and belongs to the list of his"trusted" stable of actors....
  
  , Finnish actor and director
• Kari Ylianttila
  Kari Ylianttila
  Kari Sakari "Kaale" Ylianttila is a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1972 to 1982. He won the overall Four Hills Tournament in 1977-78....
  
  , Finnish ski-jumper

Females with the given name

• Kari Bremnes
  Kari Bremnes
  Kari Bremnes is a Norwegian singer and songwriter.She got an M.A. in language, literature , history and theater studies from the University of Oslo, and worked as a journalist for several years before deciding to dedicate herself to music full time.In 1987 she received the Spellemannprisen for the...
  
  , Norwegian singer
• Kari Byron
  Kari Byron
  Kari Elizabeth Byron is a San Francisco-based television host and artist, best known for her featured role on the Discovery Channel show MythBusters.-MythBusters:...
  
  , member of the MythBusters team
• Kari Jobe
  Kari Jobe
  Kari Brooke Jobe is an American Christian singer and songwriter.- Biography :Kari Jobe was born in Waco, Texas to parents Mark Douglas and Caroline "Sandy" Jobe and was raised in Watauga, Texas and Hurst, Texas; she has two other siblings, Kristen and Caleb. Jobe first began singing at the age of...
  
  , American singer
• Kari Henneseid Eie, Norwegian biathlete
• Kari Köster-Lösche, German author
• Kari Matchett
  Kari Matchett
  Kari Matchett is a Canadian television and film actress. She played Mariel Underlay in Invasion, Lisa Miller in 24, and Kate Filmore in the cult favorite science fiction movie Cube 2: Hypercube. She currently appears in the USA television series Covert Affairs.-Early years:Matchett was born in...
  
  , Canadian actress
• Kari Rueslåtten
  Kari Rueslåtten
  Kari Rueslåtten is a solo singer, who has also worked with other artists.-Musical History:After taking part of some local bands, she was only 19 when she joined the cult progressive doom metal band The 3rd and the Mortal with whom she recorded the demo The 3rd And The Mortal in 1993, the EP Sorrow...
  
  , Norwegian singer
• Kari Traa
  Kari Traa
  Kari Traa is a Norwegian freestyle skier. She won the Olympic title in the moguls event at the 2002 Winter Olympics, finished second at the 2006 games, and finished third at the 1998 games....
  
  , Norwegian skier
• Kari Wahlgren
  Kari Wahlgren
  Kari K. Wahlgren is an American voice actress who has provided English language voices for dozens of anime titles and video games. Her debut role was as one of the main characters of FLCL, Haruko Haruhara. She had a live-action role as Tinker Bell in the 2003 Damion Dietz film Neverland...
  
  , American voice actress
• Kari Wührer
  Kari Wührer
  Kari Samantha Wührer is an American actress and singer, mostly credited as Kari Wuhrer, sometimes as Kari Salin.-Early life:...
  
  , American actress
• Kari Anderson
  Kari Anderson
  Kari Anderson is a Scottish international cricketer. She has played 8 one day internationals for the Scotland Women cricket team. A right-handed batsman and right arm medium pace bowler, she has taken 8 wickets at 21.75 and scored 133 runs with a best of 46...
  
  , American actress

People with the surname

• Dagur Kári
  Dagur Kári
  Dagur Kári is an Icelandic film director.He was born in Paris, France to Icelandic parents and returned to Iceland when he was 3 years old. Dagur graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1999, with art house short movie Lost Weekend...
  
  , Icelandic filmmaker
• Jarkko Kari
  Jarkko Kari
  Jarkko J. Kari is a Finnish mathematician and computer scientist, known for his contributions to the theory of Wang tiles and cellular automata. Kari is currently a professor at the Department of Mathematics, University of Turku.-Biography:...
  
  , Finnish mathematician
• Mauno Kari, Finnish inventor
• Tamla Kari
  Tamla Kari
  Tamla Kari born is an English actress from Coventry known for her role as Lucy in The Inbetweeners Movie and has an upcoming role in Series 4 of the BBC Three supernatural drama, Being Human.-Personal life:...
  
  , British actress
• Tommi Kari
  Tommi Kari
  Tommi Kari is a Finnish football player currently playing for JJK.-References:**...
  
  , Finnish footballer

Fictional and mythological characters

• Kári
  Kari
  Kari or KARI may refer to:* Kari or curry, a pan-Asian variety of spicy food* Kari or Sundaram Karivardhan, a legendary figure of Indian motorsports*Kari , a natural satellite of Saturn*Kari , a technique in shakuhachi music...
  
  , son of Fornjót, the personification of wind in Norse mythology
• Kari Grandi
  Kari Grandi
  Kari Grandi is a fictional character, the main protagonist in the Finnish television advertisements for Grandi, a brand of ready-to-drink juice.Grandi was played by Eeki Mantere from the beginning of the character in the 1970s until 1999...
  
  , Finnish advertising character
• Hikari "Kari" Kamiya
  Kari Kamiya
  Hikari "Kari" Kamiya, known as in Japan, is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Digimon Adventure and its sequel, Digimon Adventure 02. Although her first name is "Hikari", in the English version, she primarily goes by her dub-given nickname, Kari...
  
  , a character in Digimon media
• Kari Nordmann, Norwegian placeholder name
• Kari Ragnarsson, a character in the book Snow-walker by Catherine Fisher