Hari
Lion or lord among the gods in Hindu tradition.
Name Census estimates that about 846 living Americans carry the first name Hari. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Hari today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hari births was 2024 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hari. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hari with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
846
~ 1 in 405,147 Americans
Peak year
2024
45 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,233
Tracked since 1968
Census
Hari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,001 people with the first name Hari, which placed it at #4,597 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
#4,597
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
4,001 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hari is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.5%. The next largest groups are White (4.3%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Hari 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 Hari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.5% · 3,622
- White4.3% · 173
- Two or more races1.8% · 74
- Black or African American1.5% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 60
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Hari
Hari leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 14 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hari as a male name
- Ranked #3,233 in 2024
- 37 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (37 births)
Hari as a female name
- Ranked #11,429 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hari leans strongly male. 3,245 people counted with this name were male (81.1%), compared with 756 female bearers (18.9%).
Popularity
Hari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hari from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 240 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hari remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hari 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 Hari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Haris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Hari, while Georgia, New York, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hari
The name Hari has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which has been used in ancient India for over 3,500 years. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Haridra," meaning "yellow" or "golden," referring to the color of turmeric. The name is closely associated with Hindu culture and religion.
In Hinduism, Hari is one of the names used to address Lord Vishnu, the preserver and protector of the universe. The name appears in various Hindu scriptures, including the Bhagavad Gita and the Puranas. It is believed that the name Hari has been in use since the Vedic period, which dates back to around 1500-500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hari can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. The epic mentions Hari as one of the names of Lord Krishna, who is considered an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Mahabharata is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hari. One of the most famous is Hari Govind Sarma (1603-1644), the sixth Guru of the Sikhs. He played a crucial role in shaping the Sikh religion and its martial tradition. Another well-known figure is Hari Singh Nalwa (1791-1837), a prominent military leader and commander of the Sikh Empire during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
In the field of literature, Hari Narayan Apte (1864-1919) was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and lexicographer from Maharashtra, India. He is known for his monumental work, the "Apte Sanskrit-English Dictionary," which is widely used by students and scholars of Sanskrit.
Hari Mohan Nath (1924-2003) was a distinguished Indian civil servant and diplomat who served as the Governor of Assam and the Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry. He was also the Chairman of the Minorities Commission of India.
In the realm of arts, Hari Kondabolu (born 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and podcast host of Indian descent. He is known for his socially conscious comedy that tackles issues of race, identity, and cultural stereotypes.
The name Hari has a rich cultural and historical significance, deeply rooted in the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu tradition. Its association with Lord Vishnu and its presence in various Hindu scriptures have contributed to its enduring popularity across generations.
People
Hari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hari 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
Hari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 846 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hari 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 405,147 US residents.
Is Hari a common name?
We classify Hari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 862 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hari most popular?
The single biggest year for Hari was 2024, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hari is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,001 people with the name Hari, or 1.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,597 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 Hari 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 Hari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hari leans strongly male. 3,245 people counted with this name were male (81.1%), compared with 756 female bearers (18.9%). 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 Hari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hari is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.5%. The next largest groups are White (4.3%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Hari most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (3,622 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 Hari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hari a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Hari 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 Hari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hari 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 Hari 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 many people are called Hari?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.