Harlem

What Harlem means

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

Editor’s note Used for both: 62% of US babies named Harlem in 2025 were boys Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Harlem?

US: Steady: #1006 in 2015, #970 now. England & Wales: Steady: #1586 in 2015, #1705 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 254 boys got the name (#911 that year). First in the US records in 1975.

How common

• About 1 in 7,238 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 18,129 baby boys in England and Wales 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 MS (0.74 per 1,000 boys), LA (0.52 per 1,000 boys), AR (0.48 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Harlem is #970 in the US and #1705 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 61.6% of US babies named Harlem were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Harlym12 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 Harlem

Boys

• Beckham#168“homestead”^*
• Zayden#213Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 2000, with 11 babies
• Jude#155possibly “praised”^*
• Cohen#225Editor’s note Up from #336 in 2015 to #225 in 2025 in the US
• Julian#25“Roman personal name”^*
• Cash#287Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #287 vs #2,014 in 2025

For a sister

• Norah#262Form of Eleanor, possibly meaning “other”^*
• Ruby#64Editor’s note Up from #83 in 2015 to #64 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 450 US girls in the 2025 records
• Stella#52“star”^*
• Lola#275Editor’s note Down from #224 in 2015 to #275 in 2025 in the US
• Layla#36Editor’s note Down from #30 in 2015 to #36 in 2025 in the US
• Liliana#78Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Harlem’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.