Recorded 1881–2025 · United States
Harper was most popular in 2016, when 11,102 American babies were given the name — ranking #28 that year. In 2025 it ranked #50, with 6,869 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 145,832 people named Harper.
Harper first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1881, which makes it about 144 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 134 of the 145 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 145,832 American births named Harper between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 144,091 are estimated to be alive today.
6,869 American babies were named Harper in 2025, ranking #50 that year.
Harper is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 7,849 births a year, against 8,388 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -6% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Harper is a girl’s name — 95.4% of the 145,832 Americans given it were girls and 4.6% were boys. It changed hands: since 1991 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 98% girls and 2% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 144,091 Americans named Harper are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 9 years old, and half are between 5 and 12. That is a narrow band because Harper is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Old English · "player of the harp"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Harper on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org