Harlan

Where Harlan comes from

American contraction of Harland, from Old English har (“grey”) / hara (“hare”) + land (“land”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Harlan
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #682 among boys — 8 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1924
    Peak, #253
    519 babies named Harlan — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1934
    Harlan Ellison born
    American writer
  4. 1956
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #476.
  5. 1962
    Harlan Coben born
    American writer
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname or place name.
Namesakes
  • Harlan Ellison · American writer, 1934–2018
  • Harlan Coben · American writer, born 1962
  • Harlan F. Stone · chief justice of the United States from 1941 to 1946, 1872–1946
  • Harlan Marbley · boxer, 1943–2008
  • Harlan Mathews · American politician, 1927–2014

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.