Harper
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Harper
You might think of Harper as the hottest name of the last decade, jumping from obscurity to the Top 10, where it remained until last year.
Harper for girls#16 US
Victoria and David Beckham's choice of Harper for their youngest child and only daughter in 2011 did much to catapult the name to stardom. Some reports say Harper was named after a character on Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place, her brother's favorite show, while other say she was named after Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird
, her mom's favorite book.
Those two influences definitely helped propel Harper up the popularity list in general. Plus Harper is a member of the trendy group of occupational surnames turned first names for both genders, including Taylor, Parker, Mason, and Skylar.
Harper has been a shooting star in the celebrisphere, chosen first by Ali Wentworth and George Stephanopoulis, followed by Lisa Marie Presley, David Spade, Dave Grohl, Martie Maguire, Tiffani Thiessen, Bill Hader and Neil Patrick Harris. Singer Paul Simon used it for his son more than 50 years ago.
While Harper was used near-exclusively for boys in the 1800s and remains technically unisex, in reality it's used today overwhelmingly for girls. More than 8000 baby girls were named Harper in the US last year, versus only 138 baby boys.
Harper for boys#1980 US
Harper got its start as a celebrity baby name when Paul Simon chose it for his now-grown son. Since then, other famous parents have followed suit: musician Tim Finn and actor Cecilia Peck both have sons called Harper.
Other high-profile Harpers, like author (Nelle) Harper Lee and starbabies Harper Burtka-Harris and Harper Beckham, are female, but it makes a handsome choice for either sex (and is in the US Top 1000 for both boys and girls).
Pronounced HAR-per.
As of October 2026, Harper ranked #16 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #9 in 2019, Nameberry popularity #142.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #11 | 9,616 | #730 | 328 |
| 2015 | #10 | 10,310 | #724 | 341 |
| 2016 | #11 | 10,802 | #791 | 299 |
| 2017 | #11 | 10,521 | #801 | 286 |
| 2018 | #9 | 10,644 | #973 | 214 |
| 2019 | #9 | 10,494 | #1,029 | 202 |
| 2020 | #10 | 8,848 | #1,246 | 149 |
| 2021 | #10 | 8,441 | #1,275 | 149 |
| 2022 | #11 | 8,223 | #1,347 | 139 |
| 2023 | #11 | 7,792 | #1,434 | 127 |
| 2024 | #12 | 7,370 | #1,791 | 91 |
| 2025 | #16 | 6,792 | #1,980 | 77 |
World rankings
Harper for girls
Harper for boys
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Harper.
Similar girl names
Similar boy names
Harper on lists
Famous Harpers
- (Nelle) Harper LeeGirl
American novelist
- Harper Renee Henry (b. 2001)Girl
daughter of Miss America Heather French Henry and Steve Henry
- Harper Rhimes (adopted 2002)Girl
daughter of screenwriter, producer/director Shonda Rhimes
- Harper Kelsay (b. 2006)Girl
daughter of NFL player Chris Kelsay
- Harper Spade (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of actor David Spade and model Jillian Grace
- Harper Moon Margaret Vedder (2008)Girl
daughter of musician Eddie Vedder
- Harper Rosie Maguire (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of musician Martie Maguire
- Harper Tillman (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of NFL player Travares Tillman
- Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of singer Lisa Marie Presley; granddaughter of Elvis Presley; twin of brother Finley Aaron
- Harper Willow Grohl (b. 2009)Girl
daughter of American rock musician Dave Grohl
- Harper Grace BurtkaGirl
Harris (b. 2010) daughter of actor Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka
- Harper Renn Smith (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of actors Tiffani Thiessen and Brady Smith
- Harper Reese Hedrick (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of speed skater Chad Hedrick
- Harper Rain Sinclair McGlinchey (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of musicians Natalie Bassingthwaite and Cameron McGlinchey
- Harper Adams (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of singer Kristin (Holt) Adams
- Harper Hader (b. 2012)Girl
daughter of actor Bill Hader and director Maggie Carey
- Harper Estelle WolfeldGirl
Gosk (b. 2013), daughter of TV journalists Jenna Wolfe and Stephanie Gosk
- Harper Marie Kirk (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of actress Jenna Fischer
- Harper Rose Barash (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of actors Brandon Barash and Kirsten Storms
- Harper Foxx Cotchin (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of AFL footballer Trent Cotchin
- Harper Grace Hammer (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of actor Armie Hammer
- Harper Clark (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of model Kristy Hinze and James Clark
- Harper Marie Anderson (b. 2015)Girl
daughter of baseball player Brian Anderson
- Harper Raines (b. 2016)Girl
daughter of TV personalities Madison Channing Walls and Tony Raines of "The Real World"
- Harper Rose Garner (b. 2016)Girl
daughter of TV personalities Zoe Hendrix and Alex Garner of "Married at First Sight"
- Harper May Stefanovic (b. 2020)Girl
daughter of Australian television presenter Karl Stefanovic
- Harper ZilmerGirl
American influencer
- Harper SimonBoy
American singer, son of Paul Simon
- Harper CarterBoy
American entrepreneur
- Harper WilliamsBoy
American basketball player
- Harper GoffBoy
American artist, musician, and actor
- Harper LeBelBoy
American football player
- Alexander Harper "Xander" BerkeleyBoy
American actor
- Harper Finn (b. 1998)Boy
son of musician Tim Finn of band Crowded House
- Harper Daniel Peck (b. 1999)Boy
son of actress Cecilia Peck; grandson of actor Gregory Peck
- Harper Edward Weyman (b. 2008)Boy
son of American actress Laura Allen
- Harper Lowery (b. 2010)Boy
son of musician Clint Lowery of Sevendust and Seether
- Harper WattersBoy
Youtuber and demi,soloist with Houston Ballet
Harper in pop culture
- Harper PittGirl
character in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America"
- Harper FinkleGirl
character on TV's "Wizards of Waverly Place"
- Harper WeilGirl
character on TV's "The Whispers"
- Harper WhitleyGirl
character on New Zealand soap "Shortland Street"
- Harper ConnellyGirl
main character in a series by Charlaine Harris
- Harper PriceGirl
main character in "Rebel Belle" by Rachel Hawkins
- Harper DeanGirl
character in webcomic "Real Life" by Greg Dean
- Harper BurkeGirl
character in film "Things We Lost in the Fire"
- Harper McIntyreGirl
character in The CW's "The 100"
- HarperGirl
the estranged cousin living in the basement in the game "Ghost of Thornton Hall"
- HarperGirl
one of the main characters of TNT's "Leverage"
- HarperGirl
character in "Minecraft: Story Mode"
- HarperBoy
main character in "The Drowning Pool"
- Dr. Harper AveryBoy
character on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and namesake of fictional Harper Avery Award; grandfather of Dr. Jackson Avery
- Harper SuttonBoy
character in "Palace of Mirrors" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Charlie and Alan HarperBoy
characters in "Two and a Half Men"
- Roy Harper aka SpeedyBoy
Red Arrow and Arsenal, character in DC Comics
- Seamus HarperBoy
character on TV Show Andromeda
Variations & nicknames
- HarpurBoy