Names/H

Harlen

boys’ nameComebackCompare

Harlen is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 62 births. Its best rank was 750th, in 1936.

Rank in 2024
outside the top 1,000
Births in 2024
620.00% of boys
Peak year
193665 births
Best rank
#750in 1936
Since 1907
3,449people given the name
Babies named Harlen, by year of birthboys
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

3,345 boys have been named Harlen in the United States since 1907, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1936, with 65 births.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1953, and the 1930s alone account for 15%. It has spent 12 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 104 girls have also been given it, 3.0% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Harlen
1900s10
1910s248
1920s441
1930s517
1940s361
1950s254
1960s197
1970s112
1980s97
1990s110
2000s195
2010s509
2020s294

In 1936, its biggest year

Harlen was the 750th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1936 were Robert, James, John, William and Richard. See all of 1936.

Names that rose and fell with Harlen

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.