Harli
A variant of the name Harlene meaning "army, ruler, little rock".
Name Census estimates that about 1,252 living Americans carry the first name Harli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Harli today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harli births was 1995 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harli. 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 Harli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 273,765 Americans
Peak year
1995
55 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,720
Tracked since 1989
Census
Harli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 994 people with the first name Harli, which placed it at #12,493 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
#12,493
National first-name rank
People counted
994
994 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harli is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Harli 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 Harli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.4% · 779
- Black or African American7.6% · 76
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 64
- Two or more races4.9% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 13
Popularity
Harli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harli from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 379 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Harli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harli 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 Harli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harlis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Harli, while Louisiana, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harli
The name Harli is a diminutive form of the English name Harry, which is derived from the Old French name Henri. Henri stems from the Germanic name Heimrich, meaning "home ruler." The name was popularized in the 12th century due to its use by several members of the royal family in England and France.
Harli can be traced back to the Middle Ages when it emerged as a nickname or pet form of Harry. It was commonly used as a diminutive for children or young boys named Harry. The earliest recorded use of Harli as a given name dates back to the 16th century in England.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Harli was Harli of Northumbria, a nobleman who lived in the 7th century. He was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Northumbria and played a role in the establishment of Christianity in the region.
In the 18th century, Harli Pennington (1701-1784) was a British politician and member of Parliament who served as the Mayor of Liverpool. He was known for his efforts in improving the city's infrastructure and promoting trade.
Another notable figure with the name Harli was Harli White (1876-1958), an American baseball player who played in the Major League Baseball from 1901 to 1918. He was a pitcher and played for several teams, including the Boston Americans and the Philadelphia Athletics.
Harli Parkinson (1904-1981) was a British artist known for her landscapes and portraiture. She was a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and had her works exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts.
In the literary world, Harli Shuhart (1927-2003) was an American author best known for her children's books. Her works, such as "The Dragonet Prophecy" and "The Lost City of Zill," were popular and received critical acclaim.
While the name Harli has roots in the English language, it has gained popularity in various cultures and regions around the world, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its historical origins can be traced back to the Old French and Germanic names, making it a name with a rich and diverse heritage.
People
Harli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harli 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
Harli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,252 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harli 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 273,765 US residents.
Is Harli a common name?
We classify Harli as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,273 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harli most popular?
The single biggest year for Harli was 1995, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harli is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 994 people with the name Harli, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,493 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 Harli 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 Harli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harli leans strongly female. 980 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 13 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Harli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harli is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Harli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.4% (779 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 Harli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harli 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 Harli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harli 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 Harli 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 Harli?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.