Harding
Of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning "firm guardian" or "brave protector".
Name Census estimates that about 248 living Americans carry the first name Harding. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harding today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harding births was 1921 (235 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harding. 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.
People living today
248
~ 1 in 1,382,074 Americans
Peak year
1921
235 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,922
Tracked since 1913
Census
Harding in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 322 people with the first name Harding, which placed it at #28,067 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#28,067
National first-name rank
People counted
322
322 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harding
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harding is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Harding described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Harding at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.3% · 175
- Black or African American29.2% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.7% · 12
- Two or more races3.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 9
Popularity
Harding: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harding from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 695 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harding 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 Harding during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hardings live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama recorded the most babies named Harding, while Ohio, Michigan, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harding
The name Harding has its origins in Old English, originating from the word "hearding," which means "hardy" or "brave." It was a surname that eventually became used as a given name. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in England and was often given to children born into families with a strong military or warrior background.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Harding can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions several individuals with the surname Harding, indicating that the name was already in use by that time.
In the 12th century, the name Harding appeared in the writings of the English historian William of Malmesbury, who mentioned a man named Harding of Bristol, a merchant and landowner. This suggests that the name had spread beyond its initial military associations and was being used by members of other professions.
During the Middle Ages, several notable figures bore the name Harding. One example is Harding of Basingstoke, a 12th-century English monk and scholar who wrote extensively on mathematics and astronomy. Another is Harding of Tyre, a 13th-century Archbishop of Tyre and historian who chronicled the events of the Crusades.
In more recent history, Harding has been the given name of several prominent individuals. One of the most famous was Warren G. Harding (1865-1923), the 29th President of the United States. Another notable Harding was Harding Lemay (1904-1998), a Canadian politician and journalist who served as a member of parliament and was known for his advocacy of social and economic reforms.
Other notable individuals with the name Harding include Harding Rollins (1899-1962), an American businessman and founder of the Rollins Corporation, and Harding Bancroft (1928-2008), a New Zealand lawyer and judge who served as the Solicitor-General of New Zealand.
Throughout its history, the name Harding has maintained its association with strength, bravery, and resilience, reflecting its origins in Old English. While it may have evolved from a surname to a given name, it has retained its distinctive character and continues to be used by families seeking a name with a sense of heritage and tradition.
People
Harding + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harding 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
Harding: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harding?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harding 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 1 in 1,382,074 US residents.
Is Harding a common name?
We classify Harding as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harding most popular?
The single biggest year for Harding was 1921, when 235 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harding is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harding in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 322 people with the name Harding, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,067 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Harding in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Harding?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harding leans strongly male. 303 people counted with this name were male (92.7%), compared with 24 female bearers (7.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Harding?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harding is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Harding most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harding in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.3% (175 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Harding in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harding a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harding 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 Harding still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harding 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 Harding 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.
How many people have Harding as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Harding, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.