A Hebrew name meaning horn or ray, and also linked with beauty in biblical usage.
Keren is a Hebrew name of striking visual and sonic simplicity that carries two distinct possible meanings within the language, both of them powerful. As 'keren' (קֶרֶן), it can mean 'horn' — in biblical usage a symbol of strength, honor, and divine power, as horns were emblematic of a warrior's might. It can also mean 'ray of light' or 'beam,' as in a ray of sunlight breaking through clouds.
This duality — strength and radiance — gives the name unusual depth for its two syllables. In the Hebrew Bible, Keren-Happuch was the third and youngest daughter of Job, born after his restoration from suffering — her name translating roughly as 'horn of eye-paint' or 'ray of antimony,' a reference to the dark cosmetic used to beautify the eyes. That Job named his daughters with such distinctive names, and that the text specifically notes their beauty, has made Keren-Happuch's shortened form 'Keren' a name associated with renewal, blessing after hardship, and feminine beauty.
The name has been in consistent use in Israel and among Jewish communities worldwide for generations. In modern Israel, Keren is thoroughly mainstream — a name without religious or ethnic specialness within that context, simply a pretty, short Hebrew name. In the broader English-speaking world it has a slightly exotic quality, easily pronounced but unmistakably non-Anglo.
It has also been adopted by Keren Ann, the French-Israeli singer-songwriter, whose ethereal indie-folk music has given the name a certain artistic coolness among music lovers. Clean, ancient, and quietly luminous.