Harlen
Harlen is given to both girls and boys: 11 girls and 59 boys were given it in 2025 (#9,079 among girls’ names and #2,338 among boys’, #4,476 among all names counting both); 3,520 Americans have been recorded with it since 1907 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,000 Americans named Harlen and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (57% of everyone recorded); the median is 17 years old and half are between 8 and 59.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Harlen by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Harlen?
#2,338 among boys’ names, 2025
Harlen fell from #2,240 in 2015 to #2,338 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 31.3 to 34.5 per million.
80 babies in 2023, the peak
Harlen peaked in 2023, when 80 babies were given it (64 boys, #2,231 among boys’ names). The 70 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 88% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59 | #2,338 | 34.5 |
| 2024 | 62 | #2,294 | 36.0 |
| 2023 | 64 | #2,231 | 37.4 |
| 2022 | 59 | #2,387 | 33.8 |
| 2021 | 59 | #2,331 | 33.7 |
| 2020 | 50 | #2,563 | 29.0 |
| 2019 | 60 | #2,298 | 33.4 |
| 2018 | 53 | #2,453 | 29.2 |
| 2017 | 61 | #2,198 | 33.0 |
| 2016 | 56 | #2,347 | 29.5 |
Every recorded year (118)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 60 | #2,240 | 31.3 |
| 2014 | 44 | #2,725 | 22.9 |
| 2013 | 39 | #2,908 | 20.6 |
| 2012 | 43 | #2,791 | 22.7 |
| 2011 | 51 | #2,451 | 26.9 |
| 2010 | 42 | #2,840 | 21.9 |
| 2009 | 39 | #3,009 | 19.7 |
| 2008 | 33 | #3,369 | 16.2 |
| 2007 | 20 | #4,695 | 9.6 |
| 2006 | 22 | #4,277 | 10.7 |
| 2005 | 19 | #4,529 | 9.5 |
| 2004 | 15 | #5,341 | 7.6 |
| 2003 | 17 | #4,675 | 8.6 |
| 2002 | 7 | #8,784 | 3.6 |
| 2001 | 14 | #5,222 | 7.2 |
| 2000 | 10 | #6,490 | 5.1 |
| 1999 | 10 | #6,199 | 5.2 |
| 1998 | 13 | #4,973 | 6.8 |
| 1997 | 9 | #6,271 | 4.8 |
| 1996 | 8 | #6,718 | 4.2 |
| 1995 | 8 | #6,599 | 4.2 |
| 1994 | 17 | #3,796 | 8.8 |
| 1993 | 12 | #4,814 | 6.1 |
| 1992 | 13 | #4,406 | 6.5 |
| 1991 | 8 | #6,147 | 4.0 |
| 1990 | 12 | #4,501 | 5.8 |
| 1989 | 10 | #4,949 | 5.0 |
| 1988 | 7 | #6,012 | 3.7 |
| 1987 | 13 | #3,601 | 7.0 |
| 1986 | 7 | #5,551 | 3.8 |
| 1985 | 5 | #6,924 | 2.7 |
| 1984 | 9 | #4,338 | 5.0 |
| 1983 | 12 | #3,488 | 6.7 |
| 1982 | 7 | #5,237 | 3.9 |
| 1981 | 11 | #3,697 | 6.1 |
| 1980 | 16 | #2,875 | 9.0 |
| 1979 | 18 | #2,625 | 10.5 |
| 1978 | 10 | #3,694 | 6.1 |
| 1977 | 17 | #2,595 | 10.3 |
| 1976 | 6 | #5,177 | 3.8 |
| 1975 | 9 | #3,761 | 5.8 |
| 1974 | 9 | #3,665 | 5.7 |
| 1973 | 9 | #3,543 | 5.8 |
| 1972 | 11 | #3,038 | 6.8 |
| 1971 | 9 | #3,474 | 5.1 |
| 1970 | 14 | #2,552 | 7.5 |
| 1969 | 22 | #1,782 | 12.3 |
| 1968 | 20 | #1,804 | 11.5 |
| 1967 | 17 | #1,936 | 9.7 |
| 1966 | 18 | #1,844 | 10.1 |
| 1965 | 17 | #1,954 | 9.1 |
| 1964 | 19 | #1,867 | 9.5 |
| 1963 | 18 | #1,922 | 8.9 |
| 1962 | 21 | #1,778 | 10.2 |
| 1961 | 23 | #1,710 | 10.8 |
| 1960 | 22 | #1,743 | 10.3 |
| 1959 | 24 | #1,639 | 11.2 |
| 1958 | 23 | #1,657 | 10.8 |
| 1957 | 25 | #1,599 | 11.6 |
| 1956 | 34 | #1,321 | 16.1 |
| 1955 | 25 | #1,553 | 12.1 |
| 1954 | 18 | #1,850 | 8.8 |
| 1953 | 24 | #1,562 | 12.2 |
| 1952 | 35 | #1,255 | 18.0 |
| 1951 | 19 | #1,748 | 10.1 |
| 1950 | 27 | #1,409 | 15.1 |
| 1949 | 21 | #1,638 | 11.8 |
| 1948 | 41 | #1,113 | 23.4 |
| 1947 | 42 | #1,128 | 23.0 |
| 1946 | 25 | #1,422 | 15.4 |
| 1945 | 30 | #1,210 | 22.3 |
| 1944 | 41 | #1,024 | 30.1 |
| 1943 | 44 | #1,011 | 30.8 |
| 1942 | 36 | #1,151 | 26.1 |
| 1941 | 34 | #1,140 | 27.7 |
| 1940 | 47 | #932 | 40.5 |
| 1939 | 45 | #938 | 40.7 |
| 1938 | 45 | #944 | 40.6 |
| 1937 | 35 | #1,105 | 32.8 |
| 1936 | 65 | #750 | 62.7 |
| 1935 | 58 | #819 | 55.7 |
| 1934 | 48 | #912 | 46.5 |
| 1933 | 58 | #817 | 58.5 |
| 1932 | 60 | #827 | 57.5 |
| 1931 | 48 | #949 | 46.2 |
| 1930 | 55 | #902 | 50.1 |
| 1929 | 38 | #1,131 | 35.3 |
| 1928 | 43 | #1,066 | 38.8 |
| 1927 | 46 | #1,032 | 40.8 |
| 1926 | 39 | #1,151 | 35.1 |
| 1925 | 46 | #1,016 | 41.2 |
| 1924 | 50 | #998 | 44.1 |
| 1923 | 45 | #1,067 | 41.1 |
| 1922 | 51 | #993 | 46.9 |
| 1921 | 43 | #1,076 | 39.0 |
| 1920 | 40 | #1,129 | 37.6 |
| 1919 | 39 | #1,109 | 39.8 |
| 1918 | 37 | #1,135 | 36.5 |
| 1917 | 29 | #1,279 | 31.3 |
| 1916 | 41 | #1,006 | 46.1 |
| 1915 | 38 | #1,043 | 44.8 |
| 1914 | 25 | #1,171 | 38.2 |
| 1913 | 17 | #1,281 | 33.2 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,463 | 27.9 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,854 | 22.1 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,692 | 25.7 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,480 | 32.4 |
| 1907 | 5 | #1,420 | 34.1 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Harlen a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,520 Americans recorded as Harlen, 3% are girls and 97% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Harlen: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Harlen, and how old are they?
2,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 57% of the 3,520 Americans ever recorded as Harlen. The median Harlen alive today is 17 years old; half are between 8 and 59.
The 2020 Census counted 1,743 people named Harlen (133 women and girls, 1,610 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,792 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 148 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 314 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 195 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 151 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 359 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 835 |
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).
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 34,350 babies since 1880, Harlen is the second most given (10% of them). In 2025 it was given to 70 of their 598 babies (12%), again the second 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 Harlen
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 Harlen and names like it
- Compare Harlen and HarlanBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sHarlen peaked in 2023.
- Kentucky’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Harlen since 1910.
- The top names of 2023The year the most babies were named Harlen.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Harlen alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with HMost given first.