How rare is the name Harper?

92,376 people in the United States have the first name Harper, about 1 in 3,270. It ranks #579 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

HARPER

#579

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
92,376
About
1 in 3,270
This common or more
61.2%
Who bears it

Of the 92,376 people named Harper, 83.8% reported their origin as White, 6% as two or more races and 5.3% as Hispanic or Latino. 94.4% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Harper peaked in 2016, when 11,102 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18812025
Peak year
2016
Births that year
11,102
In 2025*
6,869 ▼38%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 145,832 babies have been given the name since 1881. 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.

Harper by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #34. The largest share of babies named Harper, 82.9%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#1,69652
1890s#2,09456
1900s#2,85242
1910s#3,113158
1920s#3,234225
1930s#3,828143
1940s#4,688115
1950s#5,699105
1960s#7,88868
1970s#6,900134
1980s#6,887177
1990s#3,096800
2000s#8267,127
2010s#4988,388
2020s#3448,242
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.3%
Silent Generation 1928–450.2%
Baby boom 1946–640.1%
Generation X 1965–800.1%
Millennials 1981–960.4%
Generation Z 1997–1215.9%
2013 and later82.9%

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 Harper is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Harper has been most common in Idaho (1.9×), Alaska (1.9×), and Nevada (1.9×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.41×).

142,198 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 Harper

#577 Brandy · 92,449#578 Geraldine · 92,416#580 Alfred · 92,300#581 Christy · 91,660

Also a last name

As a last name, Harper ranks #255 of 156,621, with 119,191 people. See Harper as a last name

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