Harlem
#971 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' nameMeaning not yet documented
Harlem has been given to 5,182 babies in the U.S. since 1975. In 2025 it ranked #971 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 254 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 66% boys, 34% girls all-time.
Babies named Harlem, 2025
1 in 14,000
Harlem over time, 1880–2025
Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.
Girls or boys — Harlem over time
In 2025, Harlem went to 38% girls and 62% boys.
A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.
How common is Harlem?
Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.
- Among all babies, 2025
- 1 in 14,000
- 236 of 3,315,165 births
- Among boys only
- 1 in 7,240
- 0.01% of boys
- Rank, 2025
- #971
- of 13,926 boys’ names in use
- Coin-flip room size
- 9,738 kids
- Even odds of a second one
Where Harlem sits on the popularity scale
Chance at least one other child shares the name
If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.
Put another way: gather 9,738 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Harlem. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.
When Harlems were born
Half of everyone ever recorded as Harlem was born before 2018 — so the typical Harlem is around 7 today.
- Biggest decade
- 2010s
- 48.3% of all use
- Born in the last 25 years
- 99.7%
- A modern name
- Recorded since 1950
- 3,437
- People you could plausibly meet
2010s — 48.3% of all recorded uses (1,660).
Is Harlem rising or falling?
Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.
- Rank vs 1 year ago
- +44
- Places climbed
- Rank vs 5 years ago
- −65
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 10 years ago
- +37
- Places climbed
- Births vs 10 years ago
- 1.16×
- More babies than then
- Share of its own peak
- 92.9%
- Peak was 2023 (254)
- Years since peak
- 2
- Years
- Year-to-year steadiness
- Shifting
- 17.2% average annual change
Spellings of Harlem
Harlem is not the most common spelling — Charles is, with 88.5% against Harlem's 0.12%.
Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.
Where Harlem is used — boys
Across 2016–2025, Harlem was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 1,613 boys, against 1 in 7,066 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 50,000).
Most concentrated
- 1Louisiana1 in 1,613
- 2Mississippi1 in 2,500
- 3Maryland1 in 3,226
- 4Alabama1 in 3,333
- 5Georgia1 in 3,448
- 6Michigan1 in 3,846
- 7North Carolina1 in 4,000
- 8Ohio1 in 4,545
Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.
Where Harlem is used — girls
Across 2016–2025, Harlem was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 2,439 girls, against 1 in 11,180 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).
Most concentrated
- 1Louisiana1 in 2,439
- 2District of Columbia1 in 2,564
- 3Maryland1 in 3,846
- 4North Carolina1 in 5,000
- 5Georgia1 in 5,882
- 6South Carolina1 in 6,250
- 7Michigan1 in 6,667
- 8Alabama1 in 7,143
Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.
Harlem around the world
Where Harlem ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.
- England & Wales2000–2025#1,705in 2025
- France1988–2025#3,214in 2025
- Canada2007–2022#2,335in 2022
- South Australia1998–2012#514in 2012
Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.
Harlem by the numbers
The raw record for each sex the name is used for.
As a boy's name
Names similar to Harlem
Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.
Names with a curve like Harlem
Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Harlem, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.
Sibling names for Harlem
Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.