Find out how popular the last name Harmon is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Harmon.

Harmon, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Harmon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Harmon in America

Harmon is the 438th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Harmon surname appeared 74,737 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 25 people would have the surname Harmon.

We can also compare 2010 data for Harmon to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Harmon

The surname Harmon is of English origin, derived from the medieval personal name "Heremannus" which means "army man" or "soldier". It is believed to have originated in the 12th century during the Norman conquest of England.

The Harmon name is thought to have first appeared in the county of Warwickshire, England. Some early recordings of the name include Richard Harman listed in the Pipe Rolls of Leicestershire in 1191, and Ralph Harman mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1199.

Harmon is a variation of the earlier spellings Hermannus, Hareman, Harman, and Harmon. It is believed that some of the earliest bearers of the name may have been soldiers or men-at-arms who accompanied the Norman conquerors to England.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Harmon name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where a landowner named Hermannus is listed in the county of Middlesex.

Notable bearers of the Harmon surname throughout history include John Harmon (1585-1670), an English colonist who settled in Virginia in the early 17th century; Daniel Harmon (1778-1845), a fur trader and explorer in the Pacific Northwest region of North America; and William Harmon (1786-1853), an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.

Other historically significant individuals with the Harmon surname include Judson Harmon (1846-1927), a U.S. Attorney General and Governor of Ohio; William Elmer Harmon (1862-1928), an American educator and the founder of Tuskegee University; and William Harmon (1911-2000), a British film producer and screenwriter.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Harmon

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Harmon.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Harmon was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Harmon has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Harmon was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Harmon, please contact us.

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