Harlan
Harlan was given to 454 boys in 2025, #617 among boys’ names; 26,980 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 13,500 Americans named Harlan and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (50% of everyone recorded); the median is 36 years old and half are between 9 and 68.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Harlan by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Harlan mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Harlan is “a male given name transferred from the surname or place name.” Its etymology gives the senses “grey” (har) and “hare” (hara) and “land” (land).
American contraction of Harland, from Old English har (“grey”) / hara (“hare”) + land (“land”).
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Harlan?
#617 among boys’ names, 2025
Harlan rose from #822 in 2015 to #617 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.14 to 0.27 per 1,000.
519 babies in 1924, the peak
Harlan peaked in 1924, when 519 boys were given it, #253 among boys’ names. The 490 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 94% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 454 | #617 | 0.27 |
| 2024 | 412 | #666 | 0.24 |
| 2023 | 418 | #654 | 0.24 |
| 2022 | 357 | #728 | 0.20 |
| 2021 | 433 | #638 | 0.25 |
| 2020 | 368 | #692 | 0.21 |
| 2019 | 278 | #818 | 0.15 |
| 2018 | 319 | #744 | 0.18 |
| 2017 | 297 | #788 | 0.16 |
| 2016 | 274 | #829 | 0.14 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 275 | #822 | 0.14 |
| 2014 | 224 | #942 | 0.12 |
| 2013 | 252 | #846 | 0.13 |
| 2012 | 178 | #1,067 | 0.09 |
| 2011 | 160 | #1,134 | 0.08 |
| 2010 | 157 | #1,169 | 0.08 |
| 2009 | 142 | #1,253 | 0.07 |
| 2008 | 125 | #1,368 | 0.06 |
| 2007 | 89 | #1,705 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 88 | #1,632 | 0.04 |
| 2005 | 69 | #1,856 | 0.03 |
| 2004 | 58 | #2,057 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 68 | #1,768 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 66 | #1,748 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 63 | #1,780 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 82 | #1,487 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 59 | #1,735 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 75 | #1,480 | 0.04 |
| 1997 | 53 | #1,797 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 51 | #1,789 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 77 | #1,338 | 0.04 |
| 1994 | 76 | #1,337 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 63 | #1,474 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 65 | #1,416 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 75 | #1,294 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 89 | #1,146 | 0.04 |
| 1989 | 57 | #1,459 | 0.03 |
| 1988 | 67 | #1,248 | 0.04 |
| 1987 | 68 | #1,164 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 65 | #1,176 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 72 | #1,099 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 64 | #1,136 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 68 | #1,085 | 0.04 |
| 1982 | 92 | #937 | 0.05 |
| 1981 | 95 | #925 | 0.05 |
| 1980 | 85 | #976 | 0.05 |
| 1979 | 89 | #930 | 0.05 |
| 1978 | 77 | #985 | 0.05 |
| 1977 | 82 | #945 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 94 | #862 | 0.06 |
| 1975 | 94 | #859 | 0.06 |
| 1974 | 72 | #965 | 0.05 |
| 1973 | 93 | #826 | 0.06 |
| 1972 | 115 | #738 | 0.07 |
| 1971 | 110 | #776 | 0.06 |
| 1970 | 139 | #706 | 0.07 |
| 1969 | 121 | #711 | 0.07 |
| 1968 | 141 | #639 | 0.08 |
| 1967 | 152 | #608 | 0.09 |
| 1966 | 146 | #616 | 0.08 |
| 1965 | 168 | #587 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 194 | #569 | 0.10 |
| 1963 | 204 | #555 | 0.10 |
| 1962 | 237 | #513 | 0.11 |
| 1961 | 227 | #526 | 0.11 |
| 1960 | 234 | #518 | 0.11 |
| 1959 | 217 | #535 | 0.10 |
| 1958 | 245 | #496 | 0.12 |
| 1957 | 269 | #474 | 0.12 |
| 1956 | 253 | #476 | 0.12 |
| 1955 | 299 | #421 | 0.15 |
| 1954 | 272 | #440 | 0.13 |
| 1953 | 274 | #424 | 0.14 |
| 1952 | 317 | #385 | 0.16 |
| 1951 | 301 | #388 | 0.16 |
| 1950 | 273 | #407 | 0.15 |
| 1949 | 315 | #379 | 0.18 |
| 1948 | 320 | #381 | 0.18 |
| 1947 | 335 | #375 | 0.18 |
| 1946 | 335 | #354 | 0.21 |
| 1945 | 322 | #333 | 0.24 |
| 1944 | 281 | #357 | 0.21 |
| 1943 | 352 | #326 | 0.25 |
| 1942 | 356 | #321 | 0.26 |
| 1941 | 352 | #309 | 0.29 |
| 1940 | 301 | #330 | 0.26 |
| 1939 | 349 | #299 | 0.32 |
| 1938 | 379 | #283 | 0.34 |
| 1937 | 332 | #296 | 0.31 |
| 1936 | 400 | #269 | 0.39 |
| 1935 | 388 | #275 | 0.37 |
| 1934 | 393 | #273 | 0.38 |
| 1933 | 365 | #276 | 0.37 |
| 1932 | 437 | #259 | 0.42 |
| 1931 | 423 | #266 | 0.41 |
| 1930 | 425 | #275 | 0.39 |
| 1929 | 354 | #296 | 0.33 |
| 1928 | 435 | #272 | 0.39 |
| 1927 | 427 | #273 | 0.38 |
| 1926 | 407 | #282 | 0.37 |
| 1925 | 470 | #263 | 0.42 |
| 1924 | 519 | #253 | 0.46 |
| 1923 | 432 | #270 | 0.39 |
| 1922 | 387 | #284 | 0.36 |
| 1921 | 415 | #273 | 0.38 |
| 1920 | 331 | #319 | 0.31 |
| 1919 | 307 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1918 | 321 | #315 | 0.32 |
| 1917 | 268 | #332 | 0.29 |
| 1916 | 294 | #304 | 0.33 |
| 1915 | 266 | #320 | 0.31 |
| 1914 | 211 | #312 | 0.32 |
| 1913 | 140 | #349 | 0.27 |
| 1912 | 101 | #382 | 0.23 |
| 1911 | 63 | #345 | 0.28 |
| 1910 | 41 | #426 | 0.21 |
| 1909 | 33 | #441 | 0.20 |
| 1908 | 31 | #431 | 0.20 |
| 1907 | 35 | #382 | 0.24 |
| 1906 | 24 | #458 | 0.18 |
| 1905 | 25 | #437 | 0.19 |
| 1904 | 31 | #363 | 0.24 |
| 1903 | 16 | #560 | 0.13 |
| 1902 | 24 | #418 | 0.20 |
| 1901 | 20 | #429 | 0.19 |
| 1900 | 19 | #567 | 0.13 |
| 1899 | 21 | #407 | 0.20 |
| 1898 | 11 | #680 | 0.09 |
| 1897 | 21 | #417 | 0.19 |
| 1896 | 12 | #653 | 0.10 |
| 1895 | 12 | #621 | 0.10 |
| 1894 | 17 | #489 | 0.15 |
| 1893 | 10 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1892 | 12 | #616 | 0.10 |
| 1891 | 8 | #729 | 0.08 |
| 1890 | 13 | #547 | 0.12 |
| 1889 | 14 | #510 | 0.13 |
| 1888 | 14 | #538 | 0.12 |
| 1887 | 8 | #711 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 12 | #559 | 0.11 |
| 1885 | 10 | #618 | 0.09 |
| 1884 | 14 | #513 | 0.12 |
| 1883 | 5 | #957 | 0.05 |
| 1882 | 8 | #726 | 0.07 |
| 1881 | 13 | #492 | 0.13 |
| 1880 | 8 | #707 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Harlan a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 26,980 Americans recorded as Harlan, 2% are girls and 98% boys. In 2025 it went to 36 girls and 454 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Harlan: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Harlan, and how old are they?
13,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 50% of the 26,980 Americans ever recorded as Harlan. The median Harlan alive today is 36 years old; half are between 9 and 68.
The 2020 Census counted 12,600 people named Harlan (305 women and girls, 12,295 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 12,596 born in the U.S. The Census count matches that prediction to within 1%.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,200 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,300 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,550 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,090 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,580 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 4,750 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Harlan born?
The states with the most babies named Harlan are Minnesota, Iowa and California, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Minnesota and Iowa are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 1,737 | #270 | 3.1× |
| Iowa | 1,652 | #356 | 3.7× |
| California | 1,515 | #761 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 1,300 | #893 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 1,221 | #902 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 1,100 | #523 | 0.9× |
| Wisconsin | 1,074 | #498 | 1.8× |
| Kentucky | 1,023 | #207 | 1.8× |
| New York | 864 | #860 | 0.4× |
| Nebraska | 811 | not ranked | 3.1× |
Where Harlan is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Harlan is most over-represented in South Dakota: since 1910 it was given 4.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Harlan with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 34,350 babies since 1880, Harlan is the most given (79% of them). In 2025 it was given to 490 of their 598 babies (82%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Harlan
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Harlan and names like it
- Compare Harlan and HarlenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sHarlan peaked in 1924.
- Minnesota’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Harlan since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Harlan: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Harlan.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Harlan alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with HMost given first.