Harve
A variation of the French surname Harvey, from the Old French Huard, meaning "polite" or "courteous".
Name Census estimates that about 94 living Americans carry the first name Harve. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Harve today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Harve births was 1882 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Harve. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Harve is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Harves were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Harve. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
94
~ 1 in 3,646,323 Americans
Peak year
1882
22 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1968 SSA rank
#4,367
Tracked since 1880
Census
Harve in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 186 people with the first name Harve, which placed it at #40,168 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
#40,168
National first-name rank
People counted
186
186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harve
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harve is White at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Black (7.5%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Harve 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 Harve at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.8% · 154
- Black or African American7.5% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 6
- Two or more races3.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
Popularity
Harve: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Harve from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1880s, with 141 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1880s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Harve 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 Harve during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Harve
The name Harve is derived from the Old Norse name Harviðr, which is composed of the elements "har" meaning "army" and "viðr" meaning "wood" or "forest." This suggests that the name may have its origins in the Viking era, when the Norsemen were known for their military prowess and their exploration of the forests of Scandinavia and beyond.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Harve dates back to the 12th century in England, where it appeared as a variant spelling of the more common name Harvey. This could suggest that the name was brought to Britain by Norse settlers or that it evolved as a local variation of the original Norse name.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Harve was Harve de Beaumont, a Norman nobleman who lived in the 11th century and fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. De Beaumont was later granted lands in Leicestershire and became an influential figure in the early Norman period in England.
In the 13th century, there are records of a Harve de Stanton, a landowner and knight from Stanton in Derbyshire, England. De Stanton was involved in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III in the mid-13th century.
Another historical figure with the name Harve was Harve Beneker, a Dutch explorer and merchant who lived in the late 16th century. Beneker was involved in the early Dutch explorations of the East Indies and played a role in establishing trade routes and settlements in the region.
In the realm of literature, one notable figure with the name Harve was Harve Margrave, an English poet and playwright from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Margrave's work was influenced by the Renaissance and the Elizabethan literary tradition, although little is known about his personal life.
Finally, in the 18th century, there was Harve de Montmorency, a French aristocrat and military officer who served in the Seven Years' War. De Montmorency was a member of the prestigious Montmorency family and held various military and political positions during his lifetime.
People
Harve + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Harve 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
Harve: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Harve?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Harve 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 3,646,323 US residents.
Is Harve a common name?
We classify Harve as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 554 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Harve most popular?
The single biggest year for Harve was 1882, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Harve is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Harve in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 186 people with the name Harve, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,168 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 Harve 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 Harve?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Harve leans strongly male. 182 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 7 female bearers (3.7%). 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 Harve?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Harve is White at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Black (7.5%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Harve most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Harve in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.8% (154 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 Harve in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Harve a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Harve 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 Harve still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Harve 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 Harve 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 Harve?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.