First Name
76k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
124k
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
First
Last
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Harper
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Harper
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Harpers Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Harper

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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Harper mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Harper

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Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Harp"er
Senses
  1. A player on the harp; a minstrel."The murmuring pines and the hemlocks . . . Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms." [Longfellow.]
  2. A brass coin bearing the emblem of a harp, -- formerly current in Ireland.

Etymology: AS. hearpere

Other Dictionary Sources
  1. Someone who plays the harp
    Synonyms: harpist
Wiktionary
  1. An occupational surname​ for a player of the harp.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. A female given name of modern usage.
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Notable Persons Named Harper

Harper Lee

Harper Lee was a novelist. Her career lasted from 1960 to 2016. Harper was given the name Nelle Harper Lee on April 28th, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, U.S. She left this life on February 19th, 2016.

Popularity:
Harper Row

Popularity:
Harper Finkle

Popularity:
Harper Simon

Harper Simon is an indie rock singer-songwriter, music producer, and record producer. He plays Guitar. He has been prominent since 1996. Harper was given the name Harper James Simon on September 7th, 1972 in New York, United States.

Popularity:
Harper Reed

Harper was born in 1978.

Popularity:
Harper Carter

Harper Carter is an actor and real estate. He was most active from 1951 to 1971. Harper was given the name William Harper Carter on August 15th, 1939. Harper is also known as Carter and William Harper.

Popularity:
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Notable Persons With the Last Name Harper

Luke Harper

Luke was born on December 16th, 1979 in Rochester, New York. Luke is also known as Huber, Jon; Lee, and Brodie.

Popularity:
Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper is a Leader of the Conservative Party, Leader of the Canadian Alliance, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, Leader of the Opposition, Leader of theConservative Party, Leader of theCanadian Alliance, and Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada). Stephen was born on April 30th, 1959 in Toronto.

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Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper is an actress. She has had major accomplishments since 1959. Valerie was given the name Valerie Kathryn Harper on August 22nd, 1939 in Suffern, New York, U.S.

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Roy Harper

Roy Harper is a comics character.

Popularity:
Ben Harper

Ben Harper is a folk rock, blues rock, alternative rock, soul music, funk rock, gospel music, reggae, jam band, and neofolk musician. He plays Vocals, guitar, lap steel guitar, slide guitar, keyboard instruments, piano, bass, drums, percussion, vibes, Vibraphone, and Weissenborn. His ongoing career started in 1992. Ben was given the name Benjamin Chase Harper on October 28th, 1969 in United States.

Popularity:
James Jacob "Jim" Harper

James Jacob "Jim" Harper is a comics character.

Popularity:
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How popular is the baby name Harper in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born Ranking
1881 9 0 9
1882 5 0 5
1883 10 0 10
1884 7 0 7
1885 9 0 9
1886 7 0 7
1888 5 0 5
1890 6 0 6
1891 6 0 6
1892 5 0 5
1895 12 0 12
1896 6 0 6
1897 6 0 6
1898 7 0 7
1899 8 0 8
1900 7 0 7
1905 13 0 13
1906 11 0 11
1907 5 0 5
1908 6 0 6
1910 6 0 6
1912 18 0 18
1913 16 0 16
1914 20 0 20
1915 27 0 27
1916 17 0 17
1917 21 0 21
1918 17 0 17
1919 16 0 16
1920 28 0 28
1921 23 0 23
1922 31 0 31
1923 13 0 13
1924 29 0 29
1925 21 0 21
1926 24 0 24
1927 22 0 22
1928 18 0 18
1929 16 0 16
1930 21 0 21
1931 11 0 11
1932 16 0 16
1933 11 0 11
1934 15 0 15
1935 12 0 12
1936 12 0 12
1937 12 0 12
1938 18 0 18
1939 15 0 15
1940 10 0 10
1941 13 0 13
1942 14 0 14
1943 7 0 7
1944 15 0 15
1945 8 0 8
1946 9 0 9
1947 12 0 12
1948 16 0 16
1949 11 0 11
1950 12 0 12
1951 12 0 12
1952 13 0 13
1953 5 0 5
1954 9 0 9
1955 10 0 10
1956 17 0 17
1957 6 0 6
1958 7 0 7
1959 14 0 14
1960 6 0 6
1961 7 0 7
1963 6 0 6
1964 7 0 7
1965 8 0 8
1966 8 0 8
1967 5 0 5
1968 13 0 13
1969 9 0 9
1970 12 0 12
1971 22 5 17
1972 8 0 8
1973 10 0 10
1974 14 9 5
1975 16 7 9
1976 19 9 10
1977 14 5 9
1978 18 9 9
1979 5 0 5
1980 15 5 10
1981 16 8 8
1982 15 6 9
1983 15 5 10
1984 13 5 8
1985 24 11 13
1986 15 7 8
1987 14 8 6
1988 19 8 11
1989 23 11 12
1990 23 12 11
1991 35 21 14
1992 37 21 16
1993 37 23 14
1994 44 33 11
1995 72 53 19
1996 146 107 39
1997 115 86 29
1998 132 93 39
1999 156 112 44
2000 182 135 47
2001 234 176 58
2002 237 164 73
2003 272 200 72
2004 351 274 77
2005 502 363 139
2006 792 597 195
2007 958 727 231
2008 1,376 1,128 248
2009 2,219 1,903 316
2010 2,972 2,631 341
2011 5,076 4,674 402 #54 girl name
2012 7,604 7,188 416 #24 girl name
2013 8,643 8,277 366 #16 girl name
2014 9,934 9,606 328 #11 girl name
2015 10,632 10,291 341 #10 girl name
2016 11,069 10,773 296 #10 girl name
2017 10,735 10,451 284 #11 girl name
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Where is the name Harper popular?

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Harper as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Harper as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in North Dakota, South Dakota, or Montana.

Popularity of Harper as a last name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Harper as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in Georgia, Mississippi, or West Virginia.

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Common last names for Harper

  • Smith
  • Williams
  • Brown
  • Johnson
  • Jones
  • Davis
  • Jackson

Common first names for Harper

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Harper U.S.
â–ˆ  White 67.90% 64.26%
â–ˆ  African American 26.22% 11.96%
â–ˆ  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 0.49% 4.85%
â–ˆ  American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72% 0.69%
â–ˆ  Two or More Ethnicities 2.36% 1.76%
â–ˆ  Hispanic or Latino 2.31% 16.26%

Of Last Name Harper

People with the last name Harper are most frequently White or African American

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Harper

  • What name lists does Harper rank for?
    #18Girl Name of the 2010s
    #7Modern Girl Names
    #80Unisex Names
  • How Popular is the name Harper? Harper is the 778th most popular name of all time. In 2017 Harper was the 11th most popular name. As a last name Harper was the 245th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Harper have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 75,857 babies born with the first name Harper in the United States. That's more than enough people named Harper to occupy the country of Dominica with an estimated population of 71,293 (as of May 14, 2011).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Harper? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1881 when it was given as a first name to 9 new born babies.
  • When was Harper first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Harper is Thursday, July 25th, 1872.
  • What year had the most people named Harper born? The highest recorded use of the first name Harper was in 2016 with a total of 10,773 babies. That's a lot of babies named Harper!
  • Random Harper Factoid: According to the 2017 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Harper ranks 12th in popularity as a baby girl's name in Illinois. Imagine that, 357 babies in Illinois have the same name as you in 2017.
  • Weird things about the name Harper: Your name in reverse order is Reprah. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Eaprrh. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Harper? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 124,461 people with the last name Harper.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Harper? Harper was ranked as the 245th most popular last name but is still less than 0.1% of the population!
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What Harpers Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Harper

Name poster for Harper(click to save the high quality version)

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • 1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary via the Collaborative International Dictionary of English (License)
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.