Harlan Boy
How popular is Harlan?
#617 boy name in 2025
454 baby boys were named Harlan in the US in 2025, making it the 617th most popular boy name. Another 36 girls got the name (#3,974 for girls).
Harlan popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #617 for boys (▲ 48 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 454 boys, 36 girls |
| 10-year trend | Rising fast (+65% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #822 in 2015, #692 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1924 (519 boys) |
| Highest rank | #253 in 1924 |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 91% boys, 9% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.4% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Harlan counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Harlan family of names ranked #529 for boys in 2025 (#554 the year before), with 551 babies in all.
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Harlan is most popular
Babies named Harlan per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Kentucky: 1.0 per 1,000 (102 boys)
- Minnesota: 0.7 per 1,000 (84 boys)
- Iowa: 0.7 per 1,000 (46 boys)
- West Virginia: 0.6 per 1,000 (20 boys)
- Tennessee: 0.5 per 1,000 (98 boys)
Harlan by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 106 | #487 |
| 1890s | 137 | #402 |
| 1900s | 258 | #360 |
| 1910s | 2,012 | #303 |
| 1920s | 4,177 | #253 |
| 1930s | 3,891 | #259 |
| 1940s | 3,269 | #309 |
| 1950s | 2,720 | #385 |
| 1960s | 1,824 | #513 |
| 1970s | 965 | #706 |
| 1980s | 733 | #920 |
| 1990s | 683 | #1,144 |
| 2000s | 850 | #1,250 |
| 2010s | 2,414 | #744 |
| 2020s | 2,442 | #617 |
Boy names about as popular as Harlan
Questions
- Is Harlan a boy or girl name?
- Harlan is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 91% of babies named Harlan were boys.
- How popular is the name Harlan?
- 454 baby boys were named Harlan in the US in 2025, making it the 617th most popular boy name. Another 36 girls got the name (#3,974 for girls).
- When was Harlan most popular?
- Harlan peaked in 1924, when 519 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #253 in 1924.
- How many people are named Harlan?
- 26,980 babies have been named Harlan in the US since 1880. We estimate about 14,014 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 40.
- Where is Harlan most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Harlan was most common in Kentucky, at 1.0 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.