Harley
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Meaning
place name/surname, "hare meadow"
The story
Harley has collected three lives that should not fit together. In Old English it was a place, usually read as the hare's meadow. As a surname it reached the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, all chrome, engine noise, and open road. Then Harley Quinn arrived in animation in 1992 with a jester costume, a mallet, and enough charisma to pull the name toward girls. The result is not a name replacing one identity with another. It is a meadow, a machine, and a comic-book troublemaker sharing the same two syllables. The American record adds one useful supporting beat: Harley began as mostly masculine and now belongs much more often to girls, though both uses remain alive. That crossing is easy to hear in the name itself. Harley can feel rugged without being heavy and playful without becoming slight. Few names offer such different imaginative doors, and none of them needs to be the correct one. The bearer can arrive by country lane, highway, or Gotham and still make the name her own.
How popular is Harley around the world?
In the United States, 7,017 babies were named Harley between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 22 boys were registered as Harley in 2017.
Harley is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Montevideo, Chile, Brazil, France, Argentina and Spain.
United States
1 in 3,100
In the United States, 7,017 babies were named Harley between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Harley peaked in the 2010s. In US birth records, Harley went mostly to boys before the 1990s and mostly to girls in every decade since. Harley went to 1,531 US babies in 2015 and 947 in 2025, 62% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 7102017
In South Australia, 22 boys were registered as Harley in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 1,300
In England and Wales, 366 boys named Harley were born in 2025, the 145th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New Zealand
1 in 1,300
In New Zealand, 32 boys named Harley were registered in 2025.
In New Zealand, 11 girls named Harley were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Scotland
1 in 1,700
In Scotland, 17 girls named Harley were registered in 2024, the 215th most common name among girls that year.
In Scotland, 10 boys named Harley were registered in 2024, the 352nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 3,900
In Ireland, 8 girls named Harley were born in 2025, the 443rd most common name among girls that year.
In Ireland, 6 boys named Harley were born in 2025, the 509th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 4,900
In Canada, 37 girls named Harley were born in 2024, the 794th most common name among girls that year.
In Canada, 37 boys named Harley were born in 2024, the 720th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Montevideo City
1 in 25,0002011
In Montevideo, 1 boy named Harley was born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Chile
1 in 30,000
In Chile, 5 girls were registered as Harley in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
1 in 71,000
At the 2022 census, 2,898 people in Brazil were named Harley, ranked 3,985th, with a median age of 36.
Among people named Harley living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 90 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Harley were born in 2025, ranked 4,224th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Harley in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 860,000
In Spain, 52 residents are named Harley, ranked 14,052nd among men, with a mean age of 25.5 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2022
Harley is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Harley is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Harley is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Harley
Most people given the name Harley in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Harley · Names that go with Harley · Gender-neutral names · Names that switched sides · Climbers and fallers
The Harley deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Harley truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Harley fits with your family’s names and surname.
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