Harvey

Where Harvey comes from

From Haerviu, name of a Breton saint, from Old Breton hoiarn (“iron”) + viu (“blazing”). Cognate with modern Breton Haerviu. In Ireland, used as an anglicisation of Irish Ó hAirmheadhaigh and Ó hEarchaidh. The civil parish in New Brunswick is probably named in honour of British colonial administrator John Harvey (1778 - 1852).
— Wiktionary's entry for Harvey
  • Celtic
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year, and the peak
    #50 among boys with 344 babies — the first year on record, and still its best.
  2. 1930
    Harvey Milk born
    American politician and gay rights activist
  3. 1939
    Harvey Keitel born
    American actor
  4. 1994
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #810.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Celtic languages, in modern use often transferred back from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Harvey Keitel · American actor, born 1939
  • Harvey Milk · American politician and gay rights activist, 1930–1978
  • Harvey Weinstein · American film producer and sex offender, born 1952
  • Harvey J. Alter · American medical researcher, born 1935
  • Harvey Elliott · English association football player, born 2003

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.