Haruka
A Japanese name meaning "remote" or "distant".
Name Census estimates that about 456 living Americans carry the first name Haruka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Haruka today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haruka births was 2003 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haruka. 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 Haruka with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
456
~ 1 in 751,654 Americans
Peak year
2003
24 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,043
Tracked since 1983
Census
Haruka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 719 people with the first name Haruka, which placed it at #15,860 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
#15,860
National first-name rank
People counted
719
719 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haruka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haruka is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and White (3.5%). 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 Haruka 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 Haruka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.3% · 635
- Two or more races6.5% · 47
- White3.5% · 25
- Black or African American0.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Haruka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haruka from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 165 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haruka 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 Haruka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harukas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Haruka
The name Haruka has its origins in Japanese culture and language. It is a unisex name that can be used for both boys and girls. The name is derived from the Japanese words "haru" meaning "spring" and "ka" meaning "fragrance" or "bloom." Together, the name Haruka symbolizes the beauty and freshness of spring.
The earliest recorded use of the name Haruka dates back to the Heian period in Japan, which lasted from 794 to 1185 CE. During this time, the name was often given to children born in the spring months, as a way to celebrate the season's renewal and the blossoming of nature.
In Japanese literature, the name Haruka appears in several ancient texts and poetic works. One notable mention is in the famous anthology of Japanese poetry, the "Kokinshū," compiled in the early 10th century CE. In this collection, a poem by the renowned poet Ono no Komachi references a person named Haruka.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Haruka. One of the earliest was Haruka no Tsubone, a Japanese court lady and poet who lived during the late Heian period in the 12th century CE. She was known for her contributions to Japanese waka poetry.
Another famous Haruka was Haruka Ayase, a Japanese actress born in 1985. She has appeared in numerous films and television dramas, and is widely recognized for her talent and beauty.
In the world of sports, Haruka Nagai is a Japanese professional soccer player born in 1992. She has represented Japan in international competitions and played for various clubs in Japan's professional league.
Haruka Fukushima, born in 1987, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. She gained popularity as a member of the Japanese idol group AKB48 and later pursued a successful solo career.
Haruka Weiser was a Japanese-American student at the University of Texas at Austin. Tragically, she was murdered on campus in 2016 at the age of 18, sparking discussions about campus safety and violence against women.
While the name Haruka has Japanese roots, it has also been adopted by people of various cultural backgrounds around the world, reflecting the name's universal appeal and the globalization of naming trends.
People
Haruka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haruka 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
Haruka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haruka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haruka 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 751,654 US residents.
Is Haruka a common name?
We classify Haruka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 466 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haruka most popular?
The single biggest year for Haruka was 2003, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haruka is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Haruka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 719 people with the name Haruka, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,860 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 Haruka 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 Haruka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haruka leans strongly female. 689 people counted with this name were female (94.6%), compared with 39 male bearers (5.4%). 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 Haruka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haruka is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and White (3.5%). 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 Haruka most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Haruka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (635 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 Haruka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haruka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haruka 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 Haruka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haruka 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 Haruka 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 have Haruka as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.