Harnoor
A delightful unisex name of Indian origin meaning "light of God".
Name Census estimates that about 442 living Americans carry the first name Harnoor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Harnoor today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harnoor births was 2012 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harnoor. 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 Harnoor with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
442
~ 1 in 775,462 Americans
Peak year
2012
35 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2017 SSA rank
#6,722
Tracked since 2000
Census
Harnoor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 496 people with the first name Harnoor, which placed it at #20,722 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
#20,722
National first-name rank
People counted
496
496 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harnoor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harnoor is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.2%). 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 Harnoor 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 Harnoor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.8% · 480
- White1.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
- Black or African American0.8% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Harnoor
Harnoor is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 446 total registrations, 97 (21.7%) were male and 349 (78.3%) were female.
Harnoor as a male name
- Ranked #9,136 in 2017
- 8 male births in 2017
- Peak: 2016 (10 births)
Harnoor as a female name
- Ranked #6,722 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Harnoor on both sides of the split. Of the 504 people counted with this name, 159 were male (31.5%) and 345 were female (68.5%).
Popularity
Harnoor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harnoor from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 228 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harnoor 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 Harnoor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harnoors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Harnoor, while New Jersey, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harnoor
The name Harnoor is of Indian origin, deriving from the Sanskrit language. It is a compound name formed by combining the words "Har" and "Noor." The word "Har" is a reference to the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu, who is considered the protector and preserver of the universe. Meanwhile, "Noor" means "light" in several Indian languages, including Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi.
The earliest recorded use of the name Harnoor can be traced back to the 16th century in the Sikh tradition. It is believed that the name was initially popularized by the Sikh Gurus, who encouraged their followers to adopt names that reflected their spiritual beliefs and connection to the divine. The name Harnoor was seen as a way to honor Lord Vishnu while also symbolizing the enlightenment and spiritual radiance that Sikhism aspires to cultivate.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Harnoor was a 16th-century Sikh warrior and poet, Harnoor Singh. He was a devoted follower of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, and is renowned for his contributions to Sikh literature and his bravery in battles against Mughal forces.
In the 17th century, another notable figure named Harnoor Singh emerged as a prominent military leader during the reign of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and final human Guru of Sikhism. Harnoor Singh played a crucial role in defending the Sikh community against persecution and is remembered for his valor and unwavering commitment to the Sikh principles of justice and equality.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Harnoor Kaur was a revered Sikh woman who dedicated her life to serving the community and promoting education. She is credited with establishing several educational institutions and inspiring generations of Sikh women to pursue knowledge and empowerment.
In more recent times, Harnoor Gill, a Canadian actress and model born in 1993, has gained recognition for her work in films and television shows. Her portrayal of diverse characters has contributed to the representation of South Asian communities in mainstream media.
Another notable individual with the name Harnoor is Harnoor Singh Pannu, an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Born in 1963, he has served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's parliament, representing the Tarn Taran constituency in Punjab.
People
Harnoor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harnoor 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
Harnoor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harnoor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 442 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harnoor 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 775,462 US residents.
Is Harnoor a common name?
We classify Harnoor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 446 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harnoor most popular?
The single biggest year for Harnoor was 2012, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harnoor is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harnoor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 496 people with the name Harnoor, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,722 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 Harnoor 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 Harnoor?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Harnoor on both sides of the split. Of the 504 people counted with this name, 159 were male (31.5%) and 345 were female (68.5%). 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 Harnoor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harnoor is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.2%). 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 Harnoor most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Harnoor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (480 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 Harnoor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harnoor a female name?
Yes, 78.3% of people registered as Harnoor in the SSA data are female. 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 Harnoor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harnoor 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 Harnoor 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 common is the name Harnoor?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Harnoor on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.