Harper

What Harper means

From a surname for “a player of the harp”

A surname originating as an occupation for a player of the harp.

Source: Wiktionary, “Harper” (revision 92970443), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Harper?

US: Falling: down from #10 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #63 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2018, when 10,646 girls got the name (#9 that year). First in the US records in 1971.

How common

• About 1 in 237 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 185 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 138 baby girls 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 WY (17.26 per 1,000 girls), VT (16.43 per 1,000 girls), ME (13.8 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Harper is #16 in the US and #23 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 98.9% of US babies named Harper were girls.

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

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Harper

Girls

• Hadley#121“heath + woodland clearing”^*
• Kensley#741Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1987, with 8 babies
• Kinsley#93“Royal (a man's name) + s + woodland clearing”^*
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*
• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*

For a brother

• Greyson#149Variant of Grayson, meaning “steward”^*
• Grayson#51“steward”^*
• Easton#110“east + settlement”^*
• Ryker#182Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #182 vs #1,066 in 2025
• Hudson#17Editor’s note Up from #65 in 2015 to #17 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 200 US boys in the 2025 records
• Nolan#65“descendant of Nuallán”^*

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