Harland
From the English elements "here" and "land", a name associated with a lush meadow or grassy plain.
Name Census estimates that about 2,237 living Americans carry the first name Harland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harland today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harland births was 1922 (156 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harland. 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 Harland with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,221 Americans
Peak year
1922
156 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,601
Tracked since 1882
Census
Harland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,118 people with the first name Harland, which placed it at #7,260 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
#7,260
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,118 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harland is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (6.8%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Harland 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 Harland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.8% · 1,733
- Black or African American6.8% · 145
- Two or more races4.6% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 35
Gender
Gender distribution for Harland
Out of the 5,764 babies given the name Harland since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Harland as a male name
- Ranked #2,601 in 2024
- 51 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1922 (156 births)
Harland as a female name
- Ranked #16,185 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2019 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harland leans strongly male. 2,076 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 40 female bearers (1.9%).
Popularity
Harland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harland from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,357 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harland 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 Harland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harlands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York recorded the most babies named Harland, while New Hampshire, North Carolina, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harland
The name Harland has its origins in the Old English language, deriving from the words "here" meaning army and "land" meaning land or territory. This suggests that the name was initially used to refer to someone who owned or controlled a significant amount of land or territory, or perhaps a military commander or landowner.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Harland dates back to the 11th century in England, where it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a surname. During the Middle Ages, the name was primarily used as a surname, and its use as a given name didn't become widespread until the 16th and 17th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the first name Harland was Harland Wolff, an Irish naval architect and engineer who lived from 1860 to 1924. He is best known for his work on the construction of the RMS Titanic and other famous ships built by Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Another notable figure was Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, the founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant chain. He was born in 1890 and passed away in 1980. Sanders is widely recognized for his iconic white suit and goatee, as well as his successful franchising of KFC.
In the world of literature, Harland Miller is a contemporary British artist and writer, known for his satirical reimaginings of classic book covers. He was born in 1964 and continues to create thought-provoking works that blend art and literature.
Harland Bartholomew, an American urban planner and civil engineer, made significant contributions to the field of city planning in the early 20th century. He lived from 1889 to 1989 and was instrumental in developing comprehensive plans for numerous cities across the United States.
Harland Ellison, a prolific American writer and critic, was born in 1934 and passed away in 2018. He is renowned for his work in the science fiction and fantasy genres, winning numerous awards including multiple Hugos, Nebulas, and Edgars for his influential short stories and novels.
While the name Harland has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these notable individuals have left a lasting impact in their respective fields, highlighting the diverse backgrounds and achievements associated with this name of Old English origin.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Harland
People
Harland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harland 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
Harland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,237 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harland 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 153,221 US residents.
Is Harland a common name?
We classify Harland as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,764 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harland most popular?
The single biggest year for Harland was 1922, when 156 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harland is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,118 people with the name Harland, or 0.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,260 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 Harland 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 Harland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harland leans strongly male. 2,076 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 40 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Harland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harland is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (6.8%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Harland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.8% (1,733 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 Harland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harland a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Harland 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 Harland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harland 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 Harland 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 Harland?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.