Karns
A surname with several possible roots, most likely a variant of a German or English name built from a personal name or place-name element.
The #8,003 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,703 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Karns is most likely a surname that developed as a spelling variant of an older personal-name or place-name form rather than from a single, certain root. In English-speaking records it may reflect a reduced or altered form of names such as Carns or Kearns; in some cases these can ultimately be linked to Irish or regional British forms. A German connection is also plausible in some families, where surnames were often reshaped after immigration and Anglicization.
History
The surname appears in English-language records in North America, where many shorter surnames were stabilized only after migration and inconsistent spelling. Because Karns can overlap with several similar-sounding names, different family lines may have different origins. That makes it a good example of a surname whose history often has to be traced family by family rather than from one single etymology.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In surname research, a short name like Karns is often not one surname with one origin, but a cluster of lookalike forms that were spelled differently by clerks and census takers.