How popular is the baby name Harper in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Harper.

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Popularity of the baby name Harper


Posts that mention the name Harper

Preliminary 2025 baby name rankings for five U.S. states

peeking nun

We won’t have access to the federal government’s next batch of baby name data until May, but five U.S. states — Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Rhode Island — have released preliminary rankings for 2025. Let’s check them out, starting in the east and moving westward…

Rhode Island

According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, RITop boy names, RI
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Amelia
4. Isabella
5. Sophia
6. Aurora
7. Ava
8. Maeve
9. Nora
10. Isla		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Oliver
4. Theodore
5. Benjamin
6. Luca
7. Lucas
8. Henry
9. John
10. Jack

Mississippi

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, MSTop boy names, MS
1. Amelia
2. Charlotte
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Elizabeth
6. Mary
7. Ivy
8. Nova
9. Emma & Lainey (tie)
10. Ellie		1. James
2. William
3. John
4. Noah
5. Elijah
6. Liam
7. Waylon
8. Hudson
9. Henry
10. Levi

Louisiana

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, LATop boy names, LA
1. Amelia
2. Charlotte
3. Olivia
4. Emma
5. Eleanor
6. Harper
7. Sophia
8. Evelyn
9. Ellie
10. Nova		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. James
4. John
5. Elijah
6. Oliver
7. William
8. Hudson
9. Joseph
10. Henry

New Mexico

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, NMTop boy names, NM
1. Olivia
2. Mia
3. Sophia
4. Sofia
5. Camila
6. Eliana
7. Amelia
8. Isabella
9. Aurora
10. Aria		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Mateo
4. Elijah
5. Santiago
6. Sebastian
7. Ezra
8. Elias
9. Levi
10. Ezekiel

Arizona

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in 2025.

Top girl names, AZTop boy names, AZ
1. Olivia
2. Sophia
3. Mia
4. Isabella
5. Emma
6. Amelia
7. Charlotte
8. Eliana
9. Camila
10. Sofia		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Mateo
4. Santiago
5. Oliver
6. Elias
7. Elijah
8. Theodore
9. Sebastian
10. Ezra

See anything interesting/unexpected so far?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from A trompe l’œil with a young nun peeking out through a shutter (public domain)

Popular baby names in Australia, 2024

Flag of Australia
Flag of Australia

In 2024, the country of Australia welcomed 292,318 babies: 142,019 girls and 150,299 boys.

What were the most popular names among Australia’s newborns that year?

We don’t know for sure, because Australia doesn’t release baby name rankings that cover the entire country. But we can look at eight sets of regional Australian rankings — representing Australia’s six states and two most populous territories — and then make a guess about the country’s top names overall.

Here are the rankings, ordered by total number of births per region (highest to lowest):

New South Wales

In 2024, New South Wales welcomed 86,978 (29.8%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (NSW, 2024)Top boy names (NSW, 2024)
1. Charlotte, 409
2. Amelia, 395
3. Olivia, 336
4. Mia, 326
5. Isla, 320
6. Chloe, 292
7. Harper, 287
8. Hazel, 283
9. Sophia, 282
10. Evelyn, 277		1. Noah, 556
2. Oliver, 493
3. Theodore, 442
4. Luca, 400
5. Henry, 375
6. Leo, 359
7. Hudson, 349
8. Charlie, 330
9. Lucas, 322
10. Elijah, 314

Victoria

In 2024, Victoria welcomed 82,328 (28.2%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (Victoria, 2024)Top boy names (Victoria, 2024)
1. Isla, 389
2. Charlotte, 382
3. Amelia, 380
4. Mia, 327
5. Hazel, 316
6. Olivia, 309
7. Matilda, 279
8. Grace, 268
9. Ella, 264
10. Lily, 259		1. Oliver, 570
2. Noah, 462
3. Henry, 359
4. Leo, 348 (tie)
5. Theodore, 348 (tie)
6. Luca, 346
7. Charlie, 341
8. Jack, 334
9. Archie, 292
10. Levi, 289

Queensland

In 2024, Queensland welcomed 58,986 (20.2%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (Queensland, 2024)Top boy names (Queensland, 2024)
1. Charlotte, 319
2. Isla, 260
3. Olivia, 259
4. Amelia, 248
5. Harper, 206 (tie)
6. Matilda, 206 (tie)
7. Mia, 201
8. Hazel, 196
9. Willow, 194
10. Grace, 192		1. Oliver, 445
2. Theodore, 344
3. Noah, 341
4. Henry, 328
5. Hudson, 316
6. Luca, 268
7. Leo, 253
8. William, 251
9. Charlie, 235
10. Jack, 233

Western Australia

In 2024, Western Australia welcomed 30,516 (10.4%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (WA, 2024)Top boy names (WA, 2024)
1. Charlotte, 136 (tie)
2. Isla, 136 (tie)
3. Amelia, 135
4. Olivia, 128
5. Harper, 119
6. Mia, 117
7. Violet, 98
8. Ella, 94 (tie)
9. Matilda, 94 (tie)
10. Ava, 88		1. Noah, 195 (tie)
2. Oliver, 195 (tie)
3. Leo, 146
4. Theodore, 144
5. Henry, 123
6. Hudson, 122
7. Jack, 120
8. Luca, 119
9. Charlie, 118
10. Thomas, 114

South Australia

In 2024, South Australia welcomed 18,516 (6.3%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (SA, 2024)Top boy names (SA, 2024)
1. Charlotte, 108
2. Olivia, 89
3. Isla, 86
4. Amelia, 70
5. Mia, 67
6. Lily, 64
7. Hazel, 63
8. Ivy, 62
9. Grace, 61 (tie)
10. Matilda, 61 (tie)		1. Oliver, 131
2. Henry, 125
3. Noah, 105
4. Charlie, 101
5. Theodore, 98
6. Leo, 92
7. Levi, 91
8. William, 80
9. Jack, 78
10. Luca, 75

Australian Capital Territory

In 2024, the ACT (Canberra) welcomed 6,017 (2.1%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (ACT, 2024)Top boy names (ACT, 2024)
1. Amelia
2. Isla
3. Ava (tie)
4. Charlotte (tie)
5. Evelyn
6. Grace
7. Harper (tie)
8. Olivia (tie)
9. Mia
10. Chloe		1. Noah
2. Theodore
3. Henry (2-way tie)
4. Oliver (2-way tie)
5. Thomas (2-way tie)
6. William (2-way tie)
7. Leo
8. Arthur
9. George/Hudson/Muhammad/Oscar (4-way tie)

Tasmania

In 2024, Tasmania welcomed 5,483 (1.9%) of Australia’s babies.

Top girl names (Tasmania, 2024)Top boy names (Tasmania, 2024)
1. Hazel
2. Charlotte
3. Isla
4. Harper
5. Ivy
6. Grace
7. Matilda
8. Willow
9. Elsie
10. Violet		1. Oliver
2. Henry
3. Charlie
4. Archie
5. Thomas
6. Noah
7. George
8. Oscar
9. William
10. Theodore

Northern Territory

In 2024, Northern Territory welcomed 3,484 (1.2%) of Australia’s babies.

[Unfortunately, NT’s 2024 rankings haven’t been released yet. As soon as they are, though, I’ll add them to the post!]

Map of Australia

Australia overall

Using the data above, let’s make a guess about Australia’s top baby names overall.

Here’s what I came up with:

Possible top girl names (Australia, 2024)Possible top boy names (Australia, 2024)
1. Charlotte
2. Amelia
3. Isla		1. Oliver
2. Noah
3. Theodore

What are your thoughts on these? (Which names would you have put at the top?)

P.S. I guessed that Isla and Oliver were the #1 names in the country in 2023…

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Australia (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Australia location map by NordNordWest under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2024

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

Last year, the Canadian province of Alberta welcomed more than 50,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah, for the sixth year in a row.

Here are Alberta’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 184 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 164
  3. Amelia, 150
  4. Sophia, 146
  5. Emma, 145
  6. Ava, 120
  7. Harper, 115 (tie)
  8. Isla, 115 (tie)
  9. Hazel, 104 (tie)
  10. Sophie, 104 (tie)
  11. Ellie, 102 (3-way tie)
  12. Evelyn, 102 (3-way tie)
  13. Lily, 102 (3-way tie)
  14. Abigail, 98 (tie)
  15. Aurora, 98 (tie)
  16. Nora, 96
  17. Mia, 95
  18. Isabella, 90
  19. Ella, 88 (tie)
  20. Violet, 88 (tie)
  21. Elizabeth, 86
  22. Sofia, 85
  23. Chloe, 83 (tie)
  24. Scarlett, 83 (tie)
  25. Aria, 80 (tie)
  26. Emily, 80 (tie)
  27. Eleanor, 79
  28. Hannah, 76
  29. Hailey, 75 (tie)
  30. Ivy, 75 (tie)
  31. Mila, 73
  32. Grace, 72
  33. Luna, 70
  34. Maya, 69
  35. Georgia, 68 (tie)
  36. Maeve, 68 (tie)
  37. Lainey, 67
  38. Anna, 66 (tie)
  39. Eliana, 66 (tie)
  40. Emilia, 65
  41. Lucy, 64
  42. Audrey, 61 (tie)
  43. Naomi, 61 (tie)
  44. Avery, 58
  45. Rehmat, 56 (tie)
  46. Willow, 56 (tie)
  47. Adeline, 55 (tie)
  48. Zoey, 55 (tie)
  49. Sadie, 54 (tie)
  50. Stella, 54 (tie)
  51. Ayla, 53 (tie)
  52. Claire, 53 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 248 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 203
  3. Liam, 196
  4. Theodore, 187
  5. Henry, 160
  6. William, 148
  7. Ethan, 141 (tie)
  8. Leo, 141 (tie)
  9. Jack, 140
  10. Lucas, 139
  11. Levi, 138
  12. Benjamin, 133 (tie)
  13. James, 133 (tie)
  14. Adam, 126
  15. Wyatt, 119
  16. Daniel, 117
  17. Luca, 111
  18. Nathan, 108
  19. Hudson, 107 (tie)
  20. Owen, 107 (tie)
  21. Bennett, 105
  22. Elijah, 104
  23. Thomas, 103
  24. Logan, 102 (tie)
  25. Muhammad, 102 (tie)
  26. Luke, 96
  27. Beau, 95
  28. Maverick, 94
  29. Samuel, 88
  30. Arthur, 84
  31. Jacob, 83
  32. Asher, 81
  33. Cooper, 80 (tie)
  34. Jackson, 80 (tie)
  35. Caleb, 79 (3-way tie)
  36. Elias, 79 (3-way tie)
  37. Ezra, 79 (3-way tie)
  38. Gabriel, 78
  39. Alexander, 77
  40. David, 76
  41. Lincoln, 75
  42. Aiden, 74 (tie)
  43. Wesley, 74 (tie)
  44. Zorawar, 73
  45. Isaac, 71 (tie)
  46. Miles, 71 (tie)
  47. Theo, 70
  48. Carter, 68
  49. Grayson, 65 (5-way tie)
  50. John, 65 (5-way tie)
  51. Mason, 65 (5-way tie)
  52. Matthew, 65 (5-way tie)
  53. Ryan, 65 (5-way tie)

Lainey (ranked 37th) was one of Canada’s fastest-rising girl names, and Zorawar (ranked 44th) was one of Canada’s fastest-rising boy names.

What about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aapistsisskitsi, Brevity, Cleofe, Datura, Edrielle, Frishta, Guidance, Hivirikee, Ilunga, Jinanshi, Katawasisin, Luladay, Milto, Nocturna, Olithea, Persimmyn, Quindy, Rhodalyn, Sora, Tezlie, Urenna, Viridis, Waseskwan, Xaeia, Yarrow, ZanessraAalto, Behxhet, Cedar-Sage, Delaneaux, Entz, Fomo, Gloriliel, Haoqi, Invictus, Joonharu, Kamharida, Luigi, Miekkonen, Nîmihitow, Okimâw, Piyêsiw, Qyler, Ryunosuke, Shinichi, Tobit, Urvil, Valo, Woodland, Xevreau, Yipei, Zildjian

Some explanations for a few of the above:

  • Aapistsisskitsi means “flower blossom” in Blackfoot.
  • Invictus means “unconquered” in Latin.
  • Katawasisin means “it is beautiful” in Cree.
  • Meikkonen means “little man” in Finnish. (The word mies means “man.”)
  • Nîmihitow means “he/she dances” in Cree.
  • Okimâw means “chief, leader” in Cree.
  • Piyêsiw means “thunderbird” in Cree.
  • Viridis means “green, youthful” in Latin.
  • Waseskwan means “the sky is clear” in Cree.
  • Zildjian is a musical instrument maker specializing in cymbals.
    • The company was founded in the 1620s by Avedis, an Armenian metalsmith based in Constantinople. In 1623, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa I, granted Avedis the family name Zildjian, meaning “son of [the] cymbal maker.”

Finally, here’s a link to Alberta’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)

Popular baby names in Kent County (Michigan), 2025

Flag of Michigan
Flag of Michigan

More than 10,500 babies were born in Kent County, Michigan, during the first eleven months (or so) of 2025.*

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sophia and Henry, according to data from Kent County’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are the county’s probable top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2025:

Girl names

  1. Sophia
  2. Charlotte
  3. Emma
  4. Amelia
  5. Harper
  6. Josephine
  7. Nora
  8. Eleanor
  9. Lucy
  10. Violet

Boy names

  1. Henry
  2. James
  3. Theodore
  4. Oliver
  5. Hudson
  6. Bennett
  7. Jack
  8. Noah
  9. Wesley
  10. Levi

One year earlier, the top names state-wide were Charlotte and Noah, according to the SSA. (Sophia ranked 6th and Henry ranked 4th.)

Finally, did you know that the current Kent County clerk is named Lisa Posthumus Lyons? She wasn’t born after the death of her father, like the babies named Posthumus centuries ago; Posthumus is simply her maiden name. (Her father, Michigan politician Dick Posthumus, is still alive.)

*The rankings were posted to Kent County’s social media accounts on December 3rd, so I’m assuming they cover the year from January to November.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Michigan (public domain)