Harnaaz
An Indian feminine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "lion princess".
Name Census estimates that about 79 living Americans carry the first name Harnaaz. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Harnaaz today is around 3 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harnaaz births was 2022 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harnaaz. 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 Harnaaz with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Harnaaz. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
79
~ 1 in 4,338,663 Americans
Peak year
2022
27 babies that year
Average age
3
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,721
Tracked since 2020
Popularity
Harnaaz: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Harnaaz 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 Harnaaz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 0 | 79 | 79 |
Geography
Where Harnaaz' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Harnaaz
The name Harnaaz has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, specifically in the Punjabi language. It is a relatively modern name, believed to have emerged in the 20th century. The name is derived from the Punjabi words "har" meaning "God" and "naaz" meaning "pride" or "elegance." Therefore, the name can be interpreted as "Pride of God" or "God's elegance."
While the name Harnaaz is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components, "har" and "naaz," have been used in various contexts within Punjabi literature and poetry. The earliest recorded example of the name Harnaaz is from the mid-20th century, but it gained popularity in the latter half of the century.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Harnaaz was Harnaaz Kaur, an Indian actress and model born in 1952. She appeared in several Punjabi films and television shows in the 1970s and 1980s. Another prominent Harnaaz was Harnaaz Sandhu, an Indian beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe in 2021.
In the field of sports, Harnaaz Sandhu, an Indian cricketer, represented the Indian women's national cricket team in the 1990s and early 2000s. She played as a right-arm medium-fast bowler and was part of the Indian team that won the Women's Cricket World Cup in 1997.
Harnaaz Kaur, a Punjabi poet and writer, was known for her works that explored themes of feminism, spirituality, and social issues. She published several anthologies of poetry and prose between the 1960s and 1990s.
Lastly, Harnaaz Gill was a notable Indian classical dancer and choreographer who was renowned for her contributions to the Kathak dance form. She founded the Harnaaz Gill Dance Academy in New Delhi and trained numerous dancers throughout her career, which spanned from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
People
Harnaaz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harnaaz 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
Harnaaz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harnaaz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 79 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harnaaz 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 Harnaaz a common name?
We classify Harnaaz 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, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harnaaz most popular?
The single biggest year for Harnaaz was 2022, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harnaaz is about 3 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Harnaaz in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harnaaz a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harnaaz 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 Harnaaz still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harnaaz 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 Harnaaz 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Harnaaz?
Want to know how many people share the name Harnaaz? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.