Harmon last name popularity, history, and meaning

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.

Meaning of Harmon

An English surname derived from a place name meaning "rocky hill" or "stone hill" in Old English.

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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 438 399 9.32%
Count 74,737 72,414 3.16%
Proportion per 100k 25.34 26.84 -5.75%

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:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 77.26% 57,742
Non-Hispanic Black Only 17.02% 12,720
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.53% 396
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.73% 546
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.12% 1,584
Hispanic Origin 2.34% 1,749

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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 77.26% 80.01% -3.50%
Black 17.02% 15.95% 6.49%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.53% 0.39% 30.43%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.73% 0.77% -5.33%
Two or More Races 2.12% 1.51% 33.61%
Hispanic 2.34% 1.38% 51.61%

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.

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Harmon last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 14, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/harmon-surname-popularity/.

"Harmon last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/harmon-surname-popularity/. Accessed 14 December, 2024

Harmon last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/harmon-surname-popularity/.

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