Harrison
Masculine · “son of Harry”
Harrison is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 99,138 boys against 324 girls since 1880.
Harrison began as a family name — plainly, "son of Harry" — and Harry itself was the everyday medieval English mouthful for Henry. It has been used as a first name in America since the very beginning of the birth records, and it has never dropped out of them. Three syllables that land on a soft ending, with a ready-made short form already tucked inside.
How old is the name Harrison?
Harrison was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Harrison alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 86,000 people named Harrison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Harrison most popular?
Harrison peaked in 1888, reaching #52 nationally. Today it ranks #116, 64 places below that high. See the whole 1888 chart.
Where it comes from
From Heinrich to Harrison
The story of Harrison
Harrison is an English patronymic surname, formed the same way as Jackson, Wilson and Thompson: a father's familiar name plus -son. The father's name here is Harry, the form English speakers actually used aloud for Henry through the medieval centuries, while Henry stayed on parchment. Like many English surnames, it crossed to the first-name column in America in the nineteenth century, when two presidents — a grandfather and grandson — carried Harrison as their family name and made it familiar in every newspaper. It has been on the American charts for as long as those charts have existed, and it still charts in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada.
Meaning
son of Harry
Harry was the ordinary spoken English form of Henry from the Middle Ages onward, so Harrison sits at one remove from Henry as well.
Cultural footprint
Harrison Ford (b. 1942) — Indiana Jones and Han Solo
Harrison Schmitt (b. 1935) — Apollo 17 geologist, one of the last men to walk on the Moon
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Heinrich
- Henry
- Harry
- Harrison
Related forms: Harry · Henry · Harri · Henri · Enrique
Pronouncing Harrison
HARR-iss-un
Stress on the first syllable. Americans vary between a flat HARR- and an airier HAIR-, and both are unremarkable.
Nicknames for Harrison
High
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
- 20163,662 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #52reached in 1888
- Change vs 2022
- +5.2%3,072 in 2025, from 2,920
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.
Harrison in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Harry in English — related form
- Henry in English — related form
- Harri in Welsh — related form
- Henri in French — related form
- Enrique in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York. International figures from National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada. Sources
Harrisons among us
people named Harrison are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 556 born in 2025 was named Harrison
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Harrison peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Harrison is headed
Harrison should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Harrison beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Harrison in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds, and known to anyone who has ever met the surname — almost never needs to be repeated or corrected.
- Comes with Harry already attached: a short form that has been in use for centuries and works on its own from playground to office.
- On the American record continuously since records began, so it belongs to no single decade of fashion.
- Charts in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada too, which makes it easy to carry across English-speaking borders.
- Three syllables that sit comfortably in front of short one-syllable surnames.
- It reads as a surname first to many ears, so expect the occasional form filled in backwards or a teacher who calls the roll wrong once.
- The -son ending puts it in company with Jackson, Mason and Grayson, which are all common now; it may sound of a piece with them even though it is far older as a name.
- In practice most Harrisons become Harry to friends and family. If you dislike Harry, that is worth settling before the name is on the certificate.
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What they receive
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Harrison
Masculine · #116 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Harrisons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 86,000 people named Harrison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Harrison in 2025?
- Harrison ranks #116 among US boy names in 2025, with 3,072 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Harrison?
- About 1 in every 556 US boys born in 2025 was named Harrison — 3,072 in all.
- Will my child share the name Harrison with classmates?
- Harrison will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Harrison
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jaxon#115 · Lorenzo#117 · Callum#118 · Jace#114 · Austin#113 · Milo#119 · Nicholas#112 · Graham#120
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Harrison? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Harrison and another name?
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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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