Harshal
A masculine Hindu name of Sanskrit origin meaning "joyful" or "blissful".
Name Census estimates that about 85 living Americans carry the first name Harshal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harshal today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harshal births was 2006 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harshal. 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 Harshal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Harshal. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
85
~ 1 in 4,032,404 Americans
Peak year
2006
10 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2015 SSA rank
#11,186
Tracked since 1987
Census
Harshal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Harshal, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harshal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harshal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Hispanic (0.5%). 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 Harshal 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 Harshal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.0% · 548
- White3.3% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 3
- Two or more races0.5% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Harshal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harshal from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 45 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Harshal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harshal 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 Harshal 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 Harshal
The name Harshal is of Sanskrit origin, and its roots can be traced back to ancient India. It is a compound word formed by combining the Sanskrit words "harsh" meaning joy or delight, and "al" meaning to obtain or possess. Thus, the name Harshal can be interpreted to mean "the one who brings joy" or "the one who possesses delight."
This name has a rich cultural and historical significance in Hindu traditions. In ancient Sanskrit texts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, the concept of "harsh" or joy is often associated with spiritual enlightenment and the attainment of inner peace. The name Harshal, therefore, may have been bestowed upon individuals who were believed to possess a joyful and contented disposition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Harshal can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Harshal is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandavas in the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Harshal. One of the most famous was Harshal Mehta (1923-1999), an Indian businessman and philanthropist who founded the Mehta Group of Companies. He was widely recognized for his contributions to education and social welfare initiatives.
Another prominent figure with this name was Harshal Pushkarna (1935-2011), an Indian poet, and writer who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, one of the highest literary honors in India, for his collection of poetry titled "Kavita Sangrah" in 1989.
In the realm of sports, Harshal Patel (born 1991) is a Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team. He is known for his skillful bowling and has represented India in various international tournaments.
Harshal Bhavsar (1946-2002) was an Indian classical vocalist and musician who was renowned for his contributions to the Hindustani classical music tradition. He received numerous accolades, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, for his exceptional performances and compositions.
Harshal Chikara (born 1984) is an Indian actor and model who has appeared in various Bollywood films and television shows. He gained popularity for his role in the critically acclaimed film "Paan Singh Tomar" in 2012.
People
Harshal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harshal 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
Harshal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harshal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 85 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harshal 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 4,032,404 US residents.
Is Harshal a common name?
We classify Harshal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 86 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harshal most popular?
The single biggest year for Harshal was 2006, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harshal is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harshal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Harshal, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Harshal 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 Harshal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harshal leans strongly male. 546 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 23 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Harshal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harshal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (3.3%) and Hispanic (0.5%). 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 Harshal most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Harshal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (548 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 Harshal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harshal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harshal 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 Harshal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harshal 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 Harshal 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 have the name Harshal?
See how many Americans are named Harshal on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.