2000
#11,336
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,556
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.95
Rare Last name
Haralson
Derived from a place name meaning "Haraldr's son," referring to a settlement or farmstead associated with someone named Haraldr.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,940 Americans carry the last name Haralson. That puts it at #11,692 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.86 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 116,583 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Haralson surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.9K
1 in 116,583
Census rank
#11,692
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,564 bearers of the surname Haralson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.86 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11692nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Haralson, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.4%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Haralson
The surname Haralson originated in Sweden during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old Norse personal name Harald, which means "army ruler" or "commander of an army." The name Harald was popular among Viking warriors and kings, and it is believed that the suffix "-son" was added to indicate that the bearer was the son of a man named Harald.
The earliest known record of the surname Haralson dates back to the 13th century. In 1285, a man named Haraldsun is mentioned in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian documents. This early spelling variation suggests that the name may have been originally written as Haraldsun or Haraldson before evolving into its modern form, Haralson.
In the 14th century, the Haralson name appeared in several Swedish census records and land grants. One notable example is Olof Haralson, a landowner in the province of Västergötland, who was mentioned in a deed from 1342. Another early record is of a man named Sven Haralson, who was a merchant in Stockholm in the late 1300s.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Haralson name gained prominence in Sweden, particularly in the northern regions. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was Nils Haralson, a farmer and landowner in the province of Jämtland, who was born in 1542.
In the 18th century, the Haralson name spread beyond Sweden to other parts of Scandinavia and eventually to North America. One of the earliest known bearers of this name in the New World was Lars Haralson, a Swedish immigrant who settled in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania in the 1720s.
Notable individuals with the surname Haralson throughout history include:
1. Gustav Haralson (1608-1678), a Swedish military officer who served in the Thirty Years' War.
2. Anna Haralson (1712-1789), a Swedish author and poet known for her religious writings.
3. Nils Haralson (1789-1865), a Norwegian-American farmer and pioneer who settled in Wisconsin in the 1840s.
4. Silas Haralson (1815-1899), an American politician and judge who served as the 33rd Governor of Georgia from 1873 to 1877.
5. Gunnar Haralson (1909-1998), a Swedish architect and designer known for his innovative residential and commercial buildings.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haralson
Among Census respondents with the surname Haralson, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.4%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Haralson bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Haralson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.4% · 1,729
- Black or African American23.0% · 589
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 126
- Two or more races3.9% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Haralson
Haralson appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#10,686
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,991
+435 bearers (+17.0%)
Per 100,000 1.01
Rank movement Up 650 places
2020
#11,692
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,564
-427 bearers (-14.3%)
Per 100,000 0.86
Rank movement Down 1,006 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,336 | 2,556 | 0.95 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,686 | 2,991 | 1.01 | +435 bearers (+17.0%) | Up 650 places |
| 2020 | #11,692 | 2,564 | 0.86 | -427 bearers (-14.3%) | Down 1,006 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Haralson surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,686 | #11,692 | -9.4% |
| Count | 2,991 | 2,564 | -14.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.01 | 0.86 | -15.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Haralson bearers went from 2,991 to 2,564 (-14.3% change). The surname moved down 1,006 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,686 to #11,692.
FAQ
Haralson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Haralson?
Name Census estimates that about 2,940 living Americans carry the surname Haralson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 116,583 residents.
How common is Haralson?
Haralson ranks #11,692 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.86 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,564 people with the surname Haralson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,940), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.86 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.86 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Haralson.
Has Haralson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Haralson went from 2,991 recorded bearers to 2,564. That is a decrease of 427 (-14.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,686 to #11,692.
What does the Census say about the background of Haralson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Haralson, the largest self-reported group is White at 67.4%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (4.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Haralson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.4% (1,729 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Haralson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (67.4%), Black (23.0%), Hispanic (4.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Haralson (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Haralson mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "Haraldr's son," referring to a settlement or farmstead associated with someone named Haraldr. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Haralson (0.86 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Haralson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.