Harvard
An English surname taken from a place name meaning "hart's ford".
Name Census estimates that about 172 living Americans carry the first name Harvard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harvard today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harvard births was 1915 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harvard. 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
172
~ 1 in 1,992,758 Americans
Peak year
1915
27 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,044
Tracked since 1912
Census
Harvard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 345 people with the first name Harvard, which placed it at #26,793 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
#26,793
National first-name rank
People counted
345
345 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harvard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harvard is White at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%). 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 Harvard 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 Harvard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.2% · 232
- Black or African American12.8% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.9% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 16
- Two or more races2.9% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Harvard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harvard from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 138 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harvard 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 Harvard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harvards live
Origin
Meaning and history of Harvard
The given name Harvard is a unique and fascinating one with a rich history that spans centuries and continents. Its origins can be traced back to the Old English language, where it is believed to have derived from the combination of two words: "hær" meaning "army" and "weard" meaning "guard" or "watchman." Thus, the name Harvard likely signified someone who guarded or protected armies or military units.
This name's earliest recorded use dates back to the 11th century, during the Anglo-Saxon period in England. One of the first documented individuals bearing this name was Harvard the Watchman, a soldier who served under King Harold II in the year 1066, just prior to the Norman Conquest of England.
As time passed, the name Harvard continued to appear sporadically in various historical records and texts, primarily within the British Isles. Notably, in the 13th century, a man named Harvard the Scribe was known for his exceptional calligraphic skills and was responsible for transcribing several important manuscripts and religious texts of the time.
In the 15th century, a prominent figure named Harvard the Navigator gained fame for his expertise in navigation and cartography. He was credited with mapping various trade routes and contributing to the advancement of maritime exploration during the Age of Discovery.
Moving forward to the 17th century, a notable individual named Harvard the Merchant left a lasting impact on the city of London. He was a successful trader and philanthropist who established several charitable organizations and funded the construction of hospitals and schools for the underprivileged.
Perhaps the most famous bearer of this name was John Harvard, a English minister and philanthropist who lived from 1607 to 1638. He is best known for his generous bequest to the fledgling college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which later became known as Harvard University, one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world.
While the name Harvard may have fallen out of widespread use in more recent times, its rich historical significance and association with notable figures throughout the centuries make it a truly unique and fascinating given name.
People
Harvard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harvard 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
Harvard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harvard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 172 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harvard 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 1,992,758 US residents.
Is Harvard a common name?
We classify Harvard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 604 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harvard most popular?
The single biggest year for Harvard was 1915, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harvard is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harvard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 345 people with the name Harvard, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,793 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 Harvard 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 Harvard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harvard leans strongly male. 336 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Harvard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harvard is White at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%). 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 Harvard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harvard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (232 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 Harvard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harvard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harvard 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 Harvard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harvard 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 Harvard 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 common is the name Harvard?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.