Harla
A variant spelling of the feminine Scottish name Arla, meaning "from the great meadow."
Name Census estimates that about 79 living Americans carry the first name Harla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Harla today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harla births was 1949 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harla. 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 Harla with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Harla is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Harlas were born before 1962.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Harla. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
79
~ 1 in 4,338,663 Americans
Peak year
1949
13 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1970 SSA rank
#8,435
Tracked since 1939
Census
Harla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 217 people with the first name Harla, which placed it at #36,520 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
#36,520
National first-name rank
People counted
217
217 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harla is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.3%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Harla 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 Harla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.6% · 177
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 18
- Black or African American5.1% · 11
- Two or more races3.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Harla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harla from the 1930s through to the 1970s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 67 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harla 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 Harla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harla
The name Harla is an ancient Germanic name with roots tracing back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old High German words "haru" meaning army or warrior, and "lant" meaning land or territory. Thus, the name Harla can be interpreted to mean "army land" or "warrior's territory."
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Harulant" or "Harolant." It first appeared in historical records from the Frankish Kingdom, which ruled over much of Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. The name may have been borne by noble warriors or landowners during this era.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Harla was a Frankish warlord who lived in the late 6th century. Historical accounts describe him as a fierce fighter who led his army in conquering territories along the Rhine River. Unfortunately, few details about his life have survived.
In the 9th century, a monk named Harla is mentioned in the annals of the Benedictine Abbey of Fulda in modern-day Germany. He was known for his skill in transcribing and illuminating religious manuscripts.
During the High Middle Ages, the name gained some popularity among the nobility of Germanic regions. A notable figure was Harla von Lusignan, a knight from the Kingdom of Arles who fought in the Third Crusade (1189-1192). He was said to have distinguished himself in battles against the Saracens in the Holy Land.
In the 13th century, a Harla Alemann was recorded as a respected scholar and philosopher at the University of Paris. His writings on logic and metaphysics were widely studied in medieval Europe.
Fast-forwarding to the Renaissance era, a Italian artist named Harla Bresciano (1470-1537) gained recognition for his exquisite frescoes and altarpieces in churches across Northern Italy. His works showcased the vibrant colors and naturalistic styles of the High Renaissance.
While the name Harla has faded in usage over time, it remains a unique and historically significant name that reflects the warrior spirit and cultural heritage of Germanic peoples.
People
Harla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harla 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
Harla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 79 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harla 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 4,338,663 US residents.
Is Harla a common name?
We classify Harla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 137 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harla most popular?
The single biggest year for Harla was 1949, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harla is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 217 people with the name Harla, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,520 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 Harla 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 Harla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harla leans strongly female. 202 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 11 male bearers (5.2%). 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 Harla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harla is White at 81.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.3%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Harla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.6% (177 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 Harla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harla in the SSA data are female. 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 Harla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harla 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 Harla 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 are named Harla?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.