Harl
A diminutive English masculine name derived from Harold, meaning "army ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 178 living Americans carry the first name Harl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harl today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harl births was 1920 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harl. 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
- • The typical person named Harl is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Harls were born before 1960.
People living today
178
~ 1 in 1,925,586 Americans
Peak year
1920
23 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1973 SSA rank
#4,730
Tracked since 1880
Census
Harl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 218 people with the first name Harl, which placed it at #36,419 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
#36,419
National first-name rank
People counted
218
218 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harl is White at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Harl 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 Harl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.2% · 188
- Black or African American8.7% · 19
- Two or more races2.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Harl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harl from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 145 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
Harl 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 Harl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Harl
The given name Harl dates back to Old English and Old Norse origins, emerging during the Middle Ages era around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "hær" or the Old Norse "hárr," both meaning "army" or "warrior." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with military prowess or service.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Harl can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, a collection of annals that documented events in Anglo-Saxon England from the 9th century onwards. Harl is mentioned as the name of a nobleman who fought alongside King Alfred the Great during the Viking invasions of England in the late 9th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Harl appeared in various forms, such as Harle, Harley, and Harlow, reflecting regional dialects and spelling variations. One notable figure from this period was Harle the Red, a 12th-century English knight who participated in the Third Crusade and is mentioned in chronicles of the time.
During the Renaissance, the name gained popularity among the English gentry and nobility. A prominent figure bearing the name Harl was Sir Harl Vere (1565-1635), an English military commander who served under Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. He was renowned for his bravery and leadership during the Anglo-Spanish War and the Thirty Years' War.
In the 17th century, Harl Fairfax (1630-1688) was an English poet and translator who gained recognition for his works, including translations of Virgil's Aeneid and Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. He was a member of the prestigious Royal Society and contributed to the intellectual discourse of his time.
Another notable figure with the name Harl was Harl Mordaunt (1658-1735), an English politician and military officer. He served as the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and played a significant role in the negotiations that led to the Act of Union between England and Scotland in 1707.
While the name Harl has become less common in modern times, it remains a part of historical records and has left an indelible mark on various cultures and eras, reflecting its ancient origins and associations with valor, warrior spirit, and nobility.
People
Harl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harl 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
Harl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 178 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harl 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 1,925,586 US residents.
Is Harl a common name?
We classify Harl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harl most popular?
The single biggest year for Harl was 1920, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harl is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 218 people with the name Harl, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,419 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 Harl 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 Harl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harl appears almost entirely male. Of the 214 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Harl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harl is White at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Harl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (188 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 Harl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harl a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harl 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 Harl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harl 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 Harl 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 Americans are named Harl?
See how many people share the name Harl on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.