Harlin
A masculine name derived from the English surname Harland, meaning "hare land".
Name Census estimates that about 1,045 living Americans carry the first name Harlin. It is a predominantly male name (94.3% of registrations). The average person named Harlin today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harlin births was 1924 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harlin. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 327,995 Americans
Peak year
1924
45 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,602
Tracked since 1886
Gender
Gender distribution for Harlin
Harlin leans heavily male at 94.3% of total registrations, but 113 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Harlin as a male name
- Ranked #4,602 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (45 births)
Harlin as a female name
- Ranked #8,607 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (16 births)
Popularity
Harlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harlin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 332 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Harlin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harlin 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 Harlin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harlins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas recorded the most babies named Harlin, while Oklahoma, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harlin
The name Harlin finds its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the 8th century AD. It is believed to be a compound name, derived from the words "hær" meaning "army" and "lin" meaning "lake" or "pool." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person living near a lake or pond where armies would gather.
One of the earliest known references to the name Harlin can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record documenting events in Anglo-Saxon England. The entry from the year 871 AD mentions a person named Harlin, who was a soldier in the army of King Ethelred of Wessex.
During the Middle Ages, the name Harlin appeared sporadically in various records and manuscripts across England and parts of Scotland. One notable individual bearing this name was Harlin of Montfort, a Norman knight who fought in the First Crusade and participated in the siege of Jerusalem in 1099 AD.
In the 13th century, a Benedictine monk named Harlin of Canterbury gained some renown for his scholarly works on theology and philosophy. His treatise, "De Natura Rerum" (On the Nature of Things), was widely circulated among medieval scholars.
Fast-forwarding to the 16th century, a minor English nobleman named Harlin Wentworth is recorded as having served in the court of King Henry VIII. He is mentioned in historical accounts as being a member of the king's privy council.
Another individual of note was Harlin Brewster, an English Puritan who was among the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in North America. He arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 and played a significant role in establishing the colony's governance and religious practices.
Throughout history, the name Harlin has maintained a relatively low popularity compared to other given names. However, it has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including soldiers, scholars, nobles, and pioneers, reflecting its enduring presence across different eras and cultures.
People
Harlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harlin 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
Harlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,045 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harlin 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 327,995 US residents.
Is Harlin a common name?
We classify Harlin as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,968 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Harlin was 1924, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harlin is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Harlin a male name?
Yes, 94.3% of people registered as Harlin 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.
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.