Harvey

What Harvey means

Means “iron + blazing”

From Haerviu, name of a Breton saint, from Old Breton hoiarn (“iron”) + viu (“blazing”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Harvey” (revision 94539969), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Harvey?

US: Rising: up from #439 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #50 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1884, when 358 boys got the name (#53 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,237 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 731 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 818 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 VT (6.6 per 1,000 boys), ND (4.17 per 1,000 boys), MN (3.59 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Harvey is #251 in the US and #138 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 98.6% of US babies named Harvey 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

• Harvi0 US · 5 E&W

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

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Hervey

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Harvey

Boys

• Rory#199“red-haired king”^*
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Idris#694Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #142 vs #694 in 2025
• Killian#417Editor’s note Down from #349 in 2015 to #417 in 2025 in the US
• Alistair#897“to defend + man”^*
• Arthur#87possibly “bear”^*

For a sister

• Winifred#922Editor’s note Up from #1,437 in 2015 to #922 in 2025 in the US
• Blaire#384Variant of Blair, meaning “field, plain”^*
• Gwendolyn#360Variant of Gwendolen, meaning “white, fair, blessed + ring, bow…^*
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Gwen#725Same root as Wendy, meaning “watercourse with a bend + island”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Harvey’s. Rank is US 2025.