Harlan

Where Harlan comes from

American contraction of Harland, from Old English har (“grey”) / hara (“hare”) + land (“land”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Harlan
Harlan through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #682 among boys, with 8 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1924
    Peak, #253
    519 babies named Harlan, the most in any year.
  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.