Karma is the Sanskrit word for "action" or "deed" and names the principle in Hinduism and Buddhism that every act shapes one's future. As a given name it belongs to the group of spiritual word names such as Destiny, Serenity and Harmony that American parents adopted in the 2000s. Karma entered the US top 1000 in 2005 and peaked at number 761 in 2009; it has since drifted down to number 1706 in 2025.