Harkirat
A name of Indian origin meaning "One who is adept at excellent deeds".
Name Census estimates that about 55 living Americans carry the first name Harkirat. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Harkirat today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harkirat births was 2011 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harkirat. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Harkirat with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Harkirat. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
55
~ 1 in 6,231,897 Americans
Peak year
2011
12 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,081
Tracked since 1998
Census
Harkirat in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 332 people with the first name Harkirat, which placed it at #27,518 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
#27,518
National first-name rank
People counted
332
332 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harkirat
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harkirat is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Harkirat 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 Harkirat at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.1% · 319
- White1.5% · 5
- Black or African American1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
- Two or more races0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Harkirat
Harkirat is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 56 total registrations, 38 (67.9%) were male and 18 (32.1%) were female.
Harkirat as a male name
- Ranked #10,081 in 2017
- 7 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1998 (8 births)
Harkirat as a female name
- Ranked #14,420 in 2019
- 6 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2011 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Harkirat on both sides of the split. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 223 were male (67.8%) and 106 were female (32.2%).
Popularity
Harkirat: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harkirat from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 48 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harkirat 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 Harkirat during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harkirats live
Origin
Meaning and history of Harkirat
The name Harkirat has its origins in the Punjabi language, which is spoken primarily in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It is a compound name formed by combining the words "Har", meaning God, and "Kirat", meaning deed or action. Together, the name can be interpreted as "one who performs virtuous deeds for God" or "one whose actions are dedicated to God".
The name Harkirat is closely associated with the Sikh faith, which originated in the Punjab region during the 15th century. It is believed to have been used by Sikhs as a way to express their devotion to God and their commitment to living a righteous life.
While the exact origins of the name Harkirat are difficult to pinpoint, it can be traced back to the earliest Sikh scriptures, such as the Guru Granth Sahib, which was compiled in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The name is mentioned in various verses and hymns, often in reference to the concept of selfless service and spiritual enlightenment.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Harkirat was Bhai Harkirat Singh (1654-1704), a devout Sikh who lived during the time of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and final human guru of the Sikh faith. Bhai Harkirat Singh is remembered for his unwavering commitment to the Sikh teachings and his role in preserving the sacred writings of the Gurus.
Another notable figure in Sikh history was Harkirat Singh Musafir (1841-1933), a prolific poet and writer who contributed significantly to the literary and cultural heritage of the Sikh community. His works, which often explored themes of spirituality and social reform, have been widely acclaimed and continue to be studied and appreciated.
In more recent times, Harkirat Singh Anand (1925-2003) was a prominent Sikh activist and leader who played a pivotal role in the fight for the rights and recognition of the Sikh community in India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in recognition of his contributions to society.
Harkirat Kaur (born 1973) is a contemporary figure, an accomplished athlete who has represented India in several international field hockey tournaments. She was a member of the Indian women's hockey team that won the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
Harkirat Singh Sidhu (born 1987) is a Canadian-born actor and model of Punjabi descent who has appeared in various Bollywood films and television shows. His name, Harkirat, reflects his Sikh heritage and the cultural significance of the name within the Punjabi community.
People
Harkirat + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harkirat 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
Harkirat: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harkirat?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 55 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harkirat 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 6,231,897 US residents.
Is Harkirat a common name?
We classify Harkirat as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harkirat most popular?
The single biggest year for Harkirat was 2011, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harkirat is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harkirat in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 332 people with the name Harkirat, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,518 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 Harkirat 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 Harkirat?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Harkirat on both sides of the split. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 223 were male (67.8%) and 106 were female (32.2%). 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 Harkirat?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harkirat is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Harkirat most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Harkirat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.1% (319 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 Harkirat in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harkirat a male name?
Yes, 67.9% of people registered as Harkirat 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 Harkirat still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harkirat 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 Harkirat 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 share the name Harkirat?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.