first name
HAROLD
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 186,450 people named Harold, 76.9% reported their origin as White, 14.4% as Black and 4.2% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Harold peaked in 1924, when 14,230 babies got the name.
At least 554,280 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Harold by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1920s, when it ranked #24. The largest share of babies named Harold, 36.4%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Harold is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Harold has been most common in West Virginia (2.2×), Nebraska (1.9×), and North Dakota (1.9×), and least common in Nevada (0.2×).
527,847 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Harold
Spelled almost the same
3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Harold, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Harold ranks #5,842 of 156,621, with 5,704 people. See Harold as a last name
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🔎 HAROLD 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 1,620 Americans More common than 51.1% of us Peaked in 1924 with 14,230 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/harold/