Girls' name · peaked in 2018
Harper name popularity since 1925
145,400 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Harper (95.6% girls, 4.4% boys). Half of them were born in 2017 or earlier, so the typical Harper is about 9 years old in 2026. Harper peaked in 2018 as the #9 name for girls, and it ranked #16 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 145,400
- Named Harper, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #16
- for girls in 2025 (6,792 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 95.6% girls
- 139,063 girls · 6,337 boys
- Most popular in
- Idaho
- 1.89× its national share
Peak year is the year Harper made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Harper births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 2016. Measured as a share of all babies, Harper peaked in 2018.
- Fastest rise: Between 2007 and 2012, Harper became 11× more common, from 1 in 2,640 baby girls to 1 in 245.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Harper's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Harper.
Decade by decade
Babies named Harper in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 101 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 143 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 115 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 0 | 105 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 0 | 68 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 45 | 89 | #7,428 |
| 1980s | 82 | 95 | #5,462 |
| 1990s | 563 | 237 | #2,432 |
| 2000s | 5,671 | 1,456 | #743 |
| 2010s | 85,193 | 3,195 | #10 |
| 2020–25 | 47,509 | 733 | #16 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
83.2% of babies named Harper from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Harper is most popular
The index compares Harper'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 Harper.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 1.89× | 1,081 |
| Utah | 1.79× | 2,188 |
| Alaska | 1.77× | 378 |
| Nevada | 1.74× | 894 |
| Wyoming | 1.74× | 339 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Harper's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Harper.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Harper (2018).
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