Harvey
Meaning
traditionally "battle worthy"
The story
Harvey is Breton at the root, Haerviu, traditionally read as battle worthy, and it was a midcentury pillar: about 20,000 a decade through the 1920s, 30s and 40s, some 124,800 boys across the record. The fade was long, down to about 1,500 in the 2000s, and the return is now real: 5,600 in the 2010s and already 6,200 so far this decade, past the full 2010s with years to run, riding the same vintage current as Walter, Warren and Otto. Its bearers give it range: a San Francisco supervisor whose name became a landmark of courage, and an invisible six-foot rabbit who has charmed audiences since 1950. In our records: about 124,800 boys to 870 girls. The grandfathers are becoming grandsons on schedule; the ledger has seen this exact turn a dozen times tonight, and it is always good news for a name this sturdy.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Harvey peaked in the 1920s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
143 people · the #32,124 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 14
The census also counted 59 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
The Harvey deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Harvey 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 Harvey fits with your family’s names and surname.
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