Harcourt
From the Old French phrase "hardi" meaning "brave" and "court" meaning "courtier".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Harcourt. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harcourt today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harcourt births was 1924 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harcourt. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Harcourt. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1924
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1926 SSA rank
#4,475
Tracked since 1924
Popularity
Harcourt: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Harcourt by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Harcourt during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Harcourt
Harcourt is an Old French name derived from the Germanic elements "haro" meaning army and "court" meaning court or enclosure. It likely originated as a place name referring to a military camp or fortified settlement in the early medieval period.
The name Harcourt first appears in historical records in Normandy, France in the 11th century. One of the earliest known bearers was Robert de Harcourt, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Harcourt family went on to become a prominent noble house in Normandy and England.
In the 12th century, the name Harcourt appears in the chronicles of William of Malmesbury, an English historian and Benedictine monk. He mentions a knight named Harcourt who took part in the First Crusade and the siege of Antioch in 1098.
During the High Middle Ages, the name Harcourt was popularized by several notable figures. Geoffrey de Harcourt (c. 1260-1330) was a Norman nobleman and military leader who played a key role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Godfrey de Harcourt (c. 1300-1356) was a French diplomat and ambassador to England.
In the Renaissance period, the name Harcourt was borne by several scholars and intellectuals. Jacques de Harcourt (1512-1578) was a French theologian and Bishop of Amiens. Robert de Harcourt (1545-1631) was a French aristocrat and patron of the arts who sponsored the writer Michel de Montaigne.
During the Age of Exploration, the name Harcourt was carried around the world by French and English explorers and colonists. Henri de Harcourt (1654-1718) was a French naval officer and colonial governor of Martinique. Simon Harcourt (1661-1727) was an English lawyer and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.
People
Harcourt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harcourt as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Harcourt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harcourt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harcourt going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about - US residents.
Is Harcourt a common name?
We classify Harcourt as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harcourt most popular?
The single biggest year for Harcourt was 1924, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harcourt is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Harcourt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harcourt a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harcourt in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Harcourt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harcourt in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Harcourt can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Harcourt?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.