Harleen
Feminine · “absorbed in God”
Harleen is a Punjabi Sikh name and a compound sentence: Har is a name of God, and leen means absorbed or immersed, so the name says absorbed in God. English readers see Harley with an ending and miss all of it, which is one of the quieter frustrations of carrying it in America.
How old is the name Harleen?
Harleen first appears in US birth records in 1937 — 88 years ago. The typical Harleen is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,400 people named Harleen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Harleen most popular?
Harleen peaked in 2016, reaching #1743 nationally. Today it ranks #4987, 3,244 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Harleen
Sikh naming draws on the vocabulary of the Guru Granth Sahib, and Har opens a long list of names built that way: Harpreet, love of God; Harjit, victory of God; Harleen, absorbed in God. Traditionally a name is chosen by opening the scripture at random and taking the first letter of the hymn on that page, so the stock of names beginning with each letter matters a great deal. Harleen came to American and British records with Punjabi families over the last few decades.
Meaning
absorbed in God
Punjabi Har, one of the names of God in Sikh scripture, joined to leen, from Sanskrit lina, absorbed, merged or immersed. The compound is a devotional statement and is used for both sexes, more often for girls.
Pronouncing Harleen
hur-LEEN
Two syllables with the stress at the end, the second held long. English speakers often say HAR-leen with the weight in front, following Harley.
Nicknames for Harleen
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1937
- Most girls named
- 2016119 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1743reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- −7.1%26 in 2025, from 28
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Harleen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ਹਰਲੀਨ in Punjabi — transliteration
- Harleen in Hindi — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Harleens among us
people named Harleen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 61,818 born in 2025 was named Harleen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Harleen
- #4987
- Harleen on the 2025 chart
- #923
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Harleen went to 26 girls in 2025, but Harlen is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 37, which makes it the 923rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,064 places above the chart.
- Harleen26
- Harlen11
About 1 girl in 43,440 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 61,818 for Harleen itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Allida test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Harleen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Allida climbed just as high around 1945, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Allida's path sketches the road Harleen is walking now.
Harleen sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Harleen is headed
Harleen is easing off slowly — about 35% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Harleen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Harleen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is a devotional statement and can be given in three words.
- It is instantly recognized in Punjabi and Sikh communities anywhere in the world.
- Both syllables exist in English, so the name survives without adjustment.
- English readers hear Harley and assume a surname-name, which loses the meaning entirely.
- The stress moves between Punjabi and English use.
- Harleen and Harleen Kaur may both appear in records for the same person.
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What they receive
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Harleen
Feminine · #4987 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Harleens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Harleen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Harleen?
- Harleen is the most-used spelling in US records — 26 of the 37 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Harlen.
- How popular is the name Harleen in 2025?
- Harleen ranks #4987 among US girl names in 2025, with 26 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Harleen?
- About 1 in every 61,818 US girls born in 2025 was named Harleen — 26 in all.
- Will my child share the name Harleen with classmates?
- Harleen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Harleen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Perri#4987 · Giannina#4987 · Karisma#4987 · Zuleyka#4987 · Mccall#4987 · Makinley#4987 · Jayani#4987 · Mela#4987
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Harleen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Harleen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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