Harlem
A boys’ name with no widely documented etymology — two syllables, given to 276 babies a year in the US.
How Harlem has moved
View as table
| Year | US rank |
|---|---|
| 2018 | #988 |
| 2019 | #908 |
| 2020 | #904 |
| 2021 | #941 |
| 2022 | #955 |
| 2023 | #911 |
| 2025 | #971 |
Harlem by the numbers
In 2025, 15 babies in England and Wales were named Harlem. In the US, 276 were, though that figure is from 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
For the size of the two countries, it is given several times more often in the US than in England and Wales.
Its American peak was 202 babies in 2015, making it a 2010s name.
What we can tell you about Harlem
Not every name has a meaning to trace. Plenty are coined rather than inherited — invented outright, blended from two names, or respelled from an older one — and where we cannot find an etymology we can stand behind, we would rather say so than make one up. What follows comes from the birth records themselves.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Harlem. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Harleyhare meadow or rocky meadow366 in England and Wales (2025)
- Harleehare meadow; modern respelling of Harley489 in the US (2017)
- Harlenhare meadow; a form of Harlan22 in England and Wales (2025)
- Harlym29 in the US (2017)
- Harperharp player10,735 in the US (2017)
- Hadleyheather field2,726 in the US (2017)
Names about as common as Harlem
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