Head to head · Boys' names
Colby vs Harlan
#615 vs #617 in 2025 · Old Norse vs English roots · both holding its place on the charts
Colby is a whisker ahead (#615 vs #617 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Colby leads 4 measures of 6; Harlan leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Colby #1031, Harlan #611 — Harlan higher
- 1890s: Colby —, Harlan #569 — Harlan higher
- 1900s: Colby —, Harlan #443 — Harlan higher
- 1910s: Colby #3035, Harlan #339 — Harlan higher
- 1920s: Colby #3025, Harlan #278 — Harlan higher
- 1930s: Colby #3004, Harlan #277 — Harlan higher
- 1940s: Colby #2194, Harlan #346 — Harlan higher
- 1950s: Colby #1679, Harlan #445 — Harlan higher
- 1960s: Colby #1241, Harlan #584 — Harlan higher
- 1970s: Colby #495, Harlan #857 — Colby higher
- 1980s: Colby #331, Harlan #1117 — Colby higher
- 1990s: Colby #215, Harlan #1480 — Colby higher
- 2000s: Colby #216, Harlan #1662 — Colby higher
- 2010s: Colby #454, Harlan #915 — Colby higher
- 2020s: Colby #612, Harlan #665 — Colby higher
Harlan stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Colby has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Colby | Harlan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1031 | #611 |
| 1890s | — | #569 |
| 1900s | — | #443 |
| 1910s | #3035 | #339 |
| 1920s | #3025 | #278 |
| 1930s | #3004 | #277 |
| 1940s | #2194 | #346 |
| 1950s | #1679 | #445 |
| 1960s | #1241 | #584 |
| 1970s | #495 | #857 |
| 1980s | #331 | #1117 |
| 1990s | #215 | #1480 |
| 2000s | #216 | #1662 |
| 2010s | #454 | #915 |
| 2020s | #612 | #665 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Colby
Koli's farmstead — from an Old Norse personal name plus býr, 'farm, settlement'
The second element, býr ('farm, village'), is not in doubt. The first is usually read as the Old Norse personal name Koli, giving 'Koli's settlement'; some place-name scholars read it instead as kol, 'coal' or 'charcoal', giving 'the charcoal farm'. Both point to the same villages in Norfolk, Cumbria and Lincolnshire.
Koli / kol (Old Norse) → býr (Old Norse: farm, settlement) → Colby (English village name) → Colby (English surname) → Colby (given name)
How it traveled
Northern and eastern England were settled by Norse speakers who left their vocabulary in the landscape, and the ending -by — farm, settlement — is one of the clearest fingerprints they left; Whitby, Grimsby and Colby all share it. Villages called Colby in Norfolk, Cumbria and on the Isle of Man gave their name to families who moved away from them, in the ordinary English way of turning a place into a surname.
Harlan
From an English place name: most likely "hare land" or "rocky land"
The second element is clearly Old English land. The first is read two ways by name scholars: hara, "hare," giving land where hares run; or hær, "rock, heap of stones," giving stony ground. Both are serious readings and neither has won.
Harland (English place name) → Harland (English surname) → Harlan
How it traveled
Harlan began as Harland, a place name in northern England, and became a surname for families who had lived there. Quaker Harland families carried it to Pennsylvania and Delaware in the late seventeenth century, and from there the spelling shed its final d as the family spread west.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Colby
KOHL-bee
Stress on the first syllable. Nobody has to ask twice, and the spelling follows the sound — though Kolby and Colbie both exist, so people may check which one you use.
- Cole — The most common short form, and a well-established given name in its own right, so some Colbys are Cole everywhere but on paperwork.
- Colb — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates rather than family.
- Coby — Informal respelling of the same sound; also exists independently as a name, including as a Dutch women's name.
- C.J. — Used when the middle name allows it; initials-based nicknames are common with surname-style first names.
Harlan
HAR-lən
Stress on the first syllable. The ending is an unstressed "-lun," so HAR-lun and HAR-lin sound much the same in ordinary American speech. Most people read it correctly on sight.
- Harl — Informal and spoken rather than written; used inside families more than outside them.
- Harley — Sometimes attached to a Harlan, though it also stands entirely on its own as a given name for boys and girls.
- Lan — Rare, drawn from the second syllable; mostly a household nickname.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Colby if you want…
- a name holding steadyColby is holding its place on the charts
- a newer arrivalColby entered the US charts in 1888
Choose Harlan if you want…
- a name on the way upup 75 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordHarlan was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Colby
Strengths
- Spelling and sound match: heard once, it is usually written correctly the first time.
- Cole is a ready-made short form that already works as a full name, giving a formal and an informal register.
- An unbroken run on US birth records stretching back to the nineteenth century — familiar without being crowded.
To consider
- Colby cheese, named for a town in late nineteenth-century Wisconsin, is the association most Americans reach for first. It is mild and harmless as jokes go, but it will come up.
- Because it is still very much a surname elsewhere, Colby paired with another surname-type last name can read as two last names — worth saying the full combination out loud.
- Kolby and Colbie exist as alternate spellings, so expect the occasional 'C or K?' at the pharmacy counter.
Harlan
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and pronounced the same by nearly everyone on first reading — no correcting at the doctor's desk.
- In continuous American use for well over a century without a fashion spike, so it places a child in no particular decade.
- Fits the long-running American habit of using surnames as first names, alongside Nolan, Sloan and Bennett.
To consider
- The d comes back: expect Harland from people who half-hear it, plus occasional Harlen and Harley on forms. A one-time correction, not a lifelong battle.
- Right now the name is far better represented among older generations than among children, so a young Harlan may meet more grandfathers than classmates with the name.
- Harlan County, Kentucky is known for its coal history and the violent labor strikes of the 1930s, documented in film and song. Some people hear the county before they hear the name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Colby and Harlan in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Colby and Harlan?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Colby and Harlan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Colby or Harlan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Colby or Harlan?
- Colby, in 2025: Colby ranked #615 with 455 babies; Harlan ranked #617 with 454 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Colby or Harlan?
- Harlan. Over the last five years Colby moved up 3 places; Harlan moved up 75 places.
- Which is the older name, Colby or Harlan?
- Colby entered the US charts in 1888; Harlan was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Harlan is the older name.
- How many people are named Colby and Harlan?
- About 52,000 people named Colby are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,500 people named Harlan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Colbys or Harlans in the classroom?
- Colby will almost certainly be the only one in school. Harlan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Colby, Harlan and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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