2000
#399
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 72,414
First available Census row
Per 100,000 26.84
Uncommon Last name
Harmon
An English surname derived from a place name meaning "rocky hill" or "stone hill" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 80,902 Americans carry the last name Harmon. That puts it at #459 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 23.60 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 4,237 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Harmon surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Harmon with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
81K
1 in 4,237
Census rank
#459
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
23.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
71K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 70,550 bearers of the surname Harmon in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 23.60 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 459th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Harmon, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Harmon
The surname Harmon is of English origin, derived from the medieval personal name "Heremannus" which means "army man" or "soldier". It is believed to have originated in the 12th century during the Norman conquest of England.
The Harmon name is thought to have first appeared in the county of Warwickshire, England. Some early recordings of the name include Richard Harman listed in the Pipe Rolls of Leicestershire in 1191, and Ralph Harman mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1199.
Harmon is a variation of the earlier spellings Hermannus, Hareman, Harman, and Harmon. It is believed that some of the earliest bearers of the name may have been soldiers or men-at-arms who accompanied the Norman conquerors to England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Harmon name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where a landowner named Hermannus is listed in the county of Middlesex.
Notable bearers of the Harmon surname throughout history include John Harmon (1585-1670), an English colonist who settled in Virginia in the early 17th century; Daniel Harmon (1778-1845), a fur trader and explorer in the Pacific Northwest region of North America; and William Harmon (1786-1853), an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.
Other historically significant individuals with the Harmon surname include Judson Harmon (1846-1927), a U.S. Attorney General and Governor of Ohio; William Elmer Harmon (1862-1928), an American educator and the founder of Tuskegee University; and William Harmon (1911-2000), a British film producer and screenwriter.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harmon
Among Census respondents with the surname Harmon, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Harmon bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Harmon surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.8% · 52,802
- Black or African American16.4% · 11,602
- Two or more races4.3% · 3,006
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 2,202
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 480
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 458
Timeline
Historical Census data for Harmon
Harmon appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#438
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 74,737
+2,323 bearers (+3.2%)
Per 100,000 25.34
Rank movement Down 39 places
2020
#459
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 70,550
-4,187 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 23.60
Rank movement Down 21 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #399 | 72,414 | 26.84 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #438 | 74,737 | 25.34 | +2,323 bearers (+3.2%) | Down 39 places |
| 2020 | #459 | 70,550 | 23.60 | -4,187 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 21 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Harmon surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #438 | #459 | -4.8% |
| Count | 74,737 | 70,550 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 25.34 | 23.60 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Harmon bearers went from 74,737 to 70,550 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 21 positions in the national ranking, going from #438 to #459.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Harmon
FAQ
Harmon surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Harmon?
Name Census estimates that about 80,902 living Americans carry the surname Harmon. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 4,237 residents.
How common is Harmon?
Harmon ranks #459 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 23.60 per 100,000 residents, which is about 24 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 70,550 people with the surname Harmon. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (80,902), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 23.6 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 23.60 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 24 of them to have the surname Harmon.
Has Harmon become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Harmon went from 74,737 recorded bearers to 70,550. That is a decrease of 4,187 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #438 to #459.
What does the Census say about the background of Harmon?
Among Census respondents with the surname Harmon, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Harmon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.8% (52,802 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Harmon appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (74.8%), Black (16.4%), Two or More Races (4.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Harmon (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Harmon mean?
An English surname derived from a place name meaning "rocky hill" or "stone hill" in Old English. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Harmon (23.60 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Harmon?
You can see how common the surname Harmon is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.