Harris
Masculine · “son of Harry”
Harris is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 16,472 boys against 189 girls since 1880.
Harris began as a plain medieval way of saying "Harry's son," and it has been in continuous American use for well over a century. It carries a ready-made short form inside it, since every Harris already has Harry. It is also the name of an island in the Outer Hebrides, and of the tweed woven there.
How old is the name Harris?
Harris was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Harris alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 9,300 people named Harris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Harris most popular?
Harris peaked in 1889, reaching #313 nationally. Today it ranks #1297, 984 places below that high. See the whole 1889 chart.
Harris appears on this list:
Works in British families too:
Where it comes from
From Heimirich to Harris
The story of Harris
The Germanic name Heimirich, "home ruler," arrived in England with the Normans as Henry, and ordinary English speech turned it into Harry. Medieval record-keepers needed to tell one man from another, so Harry's son was written down as Harris, Harries or Harrison, and those hardened into inherited surnames across England and Wales. Harris became one of the most widespread of them, carried by emigration into North America, Australia and beyond. Its move back to the front of the name — surname as first name — is a long-running American habit, and Harris has been part of that pattern since the earliest stretch of national birth records.
Meaning
son of Harry — that is, of Henry
The patronymic reading is the standard one. A second, independent source exists in Scotland: Na Hearadh, the southern portion of the island of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, gave the same spelling to families and to Harris Tweed.
How the name formed
- Heimirich
- Henry
- Harry
- Harris
Related forms: Harrison · Harries · Harry · Henry
Pronouncing Harris
HAIR-iss
Two syllables, stress on the first. Whether the opening vowel sounds like "hair" or closer to "ha" depends on the accent; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Harris
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1921245 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #313reached in 1889
- Change vs 2022
- −13.8%150 in 2025, from 174
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.
Harris in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Harrison in English — related form
- Harries in Welsh — related form
- Harry in English — related form
- Henry in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York. International figures from National Records of Scotland. Sources
Harriss among us
people named Harris are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 11,387 born in 2025 was named Harris
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Harris
- #1297
- Harris on the 2025 chart
- #723
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Harris went to 150 boys in 2025, but Haris is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 206, which makes it the 723rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 574 places above the chart.
- Harris150
- Haris56
About 1 boy in 8,292 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 11,387 for Harris 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
Fashion outlook
Harris 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 Harris is headed
Harris should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Harris beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Harris in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the most common surnames in the English-speaking world, so the spelling needs no explaining — people can already write it.
- Comes with Harry built in: an informal option that is itself a fully established name, no invention required.
- A documented line back to Norman-era Henry, with an unbroken presence on American records since the earliest years they were kept.
- Works on both sides of the Atlantic — it also charts in Scotland, where the Hebridean island of the same name sits.
- Because Harris is such a widespread family name, it will regularly be read as a last name — on forms, rosters and in doctors' offices, expect the occasional reversal of first and last.
- It sits very close to Harrison, Harry and Harold, and people who know one of those will sometimes default to it. A short, calm correction usually settles the matter for good.
- It has stepped back from its high point and is now uncommon enough that a child is likely to be the only one in the school — appealing to some parents, less so to others.
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Harris
Masculine · #1297 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Harriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,300 people named Harris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Harris?
- Harris is the most-used spelling in US records — 150 of the 206 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Haris.
- How popular is the name Harris in 2025?
- Harris ranks #1297 among US boy names in 2025, with 150 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Harris?
- About 1 in every 11,387 US boys born in 2025 was named Harris — 150 in all.
- Will my child share the name Harris with classmates?
- Harris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Harris
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Cartier#1297 · Cormac#1297 · Kallen#1297 · Kolsen#1297 · Knowledge#1297 · Faris#1297 · Kaizer#1297 · Achilles#1290
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Harris? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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