Boys' name · peaked in 1924
Harlan name popularity since 1925
22,383 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Harlan (2.2% girls, 97.8% boys). Half of them were born in 1956 or earlier, so the typical Harlan is about 70 years old in 2026. Harlan peaked in 1924 as the #253 name for boys, and it ranked #617 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 22,383
- Named Harlan, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1924
- #253 for boys that year
- In 2025
- #617
- for boys in 2025 (454 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 97.8% boys
- 499 girls · 21,884 boys
- Most popular in
- South Dakota
- 8.82× its national share
Peak year is the year Harlan made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Harlan births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Harlan peaked earlier, in 1924.
- Steepest fall: Between 1945 and 1950, Harlan's share of baby boys fell by 36%, from 1 in 4,180 to 1 in 6,560.
- Fastest rise: Between 2008 and 2013, it became 2.2× more common, from 1 in 16,300 baby boys to 1 in 7,510.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Harlan's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Harlan.
Decade by decade
Babies named Harlan in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 7 | 2,093 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 3,891 | #275 |
| 1940s | 0 | 3,269 | #333 |
| 1950s | 0 | 2,720 | #422 |
| 1960s | 0 | 1,824 | #587 |
| 1970s | 0 | 965 | #859 |
| 1980s | 0 | 733 | #1,100 |
| 1990s | 0 | 683 | #1,343 |
| 2000s | 21 | 850 | #1,860 |
| 2010s | 228 | 2,414 | #822 |
| 2020–25 | 243 | 2,442 | #617 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
29.7% of babies named Harlan from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Harlan is most popular
The index compares Harlan's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Harlan.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 8.82× | 480 |
| North Dakota | 6.54× | 352 |
| Iowa | 5.78× | 1,255 |
| Nebraska | 4.97× | 595 |
| Minnesota | 4.68× | 1,459 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Harlan and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Harlan (this page) | 21,884 | 1924 |
| Harlen | 2,918 | 1936 |
| Harlon | 1,569 | 1939 |
| Harlin | 1,525 | 1886 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Harlan's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Harlan.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Harlan (1924).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data