Harlan

What Harlan means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Harlan yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Up from #822 in 2015 to #617 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Harlan?

US: Rising: up from #822 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #656 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1924, when 519 boys got the name (#253 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,762 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,316 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in KY (1.31 per 1,000 boys), MN (0.94 per 1,000 boys), IA (0.72 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Harlan is #617 in the US and #474 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 92.7% of US babies named Harlan were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Harlen59 US · 22 E&W
• Harlyn24 US · 4 E&W
• Harlin24 US · 4 E&W
• Harlon14 US
• Herlin7 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Harlan

Boys

• Graham#120“gravel + homestead”^*
• Dean#125“valley”^*
• Elliott#160“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Ford#474Editor’s note Up from #741 in 2015 to #474 in 2025 in the US
• Royce#499Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #499 vs #1,307 in 2025

For a sister

• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*
• Isla#28Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #142 in 2015, #28 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Collins#241“descendant of Coileán”^*
• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a place name, From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Harlan’s. Rank is US 2025.