NameCensus.

UK name, mostly girls

Harlie

Of uncertain etymology, potentially a feminine variant of Harry or Charles.

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Also recorded as a boys' name in the UK, with 174 boys.

Harlie is mostly registered for girls in the UK records. People looking for Harlie popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1128, with 30 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2017, with 62 births.

This profile covers 703 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 48% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 785 living people in the UK are called Harlie. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Harlie ranked #1128 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 30 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2017, when 62 girls were registered as Harlie.
  • Harlie ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #440 in 2016.
  • Harlie is also recorded for boys, but the girls side is the larger UK variant in these records.
  • About 785 living people in the UK are estimated to have Harlie as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
  • Across the England and Wales records shown here, 80.2% of Harlie registrations are for girls.

Latest rank (E&W)

#1128

2024

Births in 2024

30

Latest year

Peak year

2017

62 births

Estimated living

785

2026

Gender

Boy and girl registrations for Harlie

In England and Wales birth records, Harlie has been registered for both boys and girls. Across the years shown here, 19.8% of registrations are for boys and 80.2% are for girls.

These figures use the sex categories in the published baby-name files. They are useful for spotting how the name is used at registration, but they are not a live measure of gender identity or everyone living with the name today.

20% boys
80% girls
Boys174 (19.8%)Girls703 (80.2%)

Harlie registered for boys

  • Ranked #4,789 in 2021
  • 3 boys registered in 2021
  • Peak: 2015 (17 births)

Harlie registered for girls

  • Ranked #1,128 in 2024
  • 30 girls registered in 2024
  • Peak: 2017 (62 births)

Meaning

What does Harlie mean?

The name Harlie is a modern English variant of the name Harley, which has its origins in the Old English language. The name Harley is derived from the Old English words "hara" meaning "hare" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." Thus, the name Harley originally referred to a meadow or clearing where hares were found.

One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Harley dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a surname referring to a place name in Yorkshire, England. However, the name's use as a given name is not well documented until more recent centuries.

In the 16th century, the name Harley gained some prominence due to its association with the Harley family, a prominent English noble family. One notable member of this family was Sir Robert Harley (1579-1656), an English statesman and collector of manuscripts.

In the 17th century, another notable figure bearing the name Harley was Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (1661-1724), a British statesman and bibliophile who served as Lord Treasurer and played a significant role in the War of the Spanish Succession.

As the name Harlie is a more recent variant, there are fewer historical figures recorded with this exact spelling. However, one notable individual was Harlie E. Norville (1895-1971), an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1960 to 1964.

Another individual with the name Harlie was Harlie J. Sims (1907-1993), an American baseball pitcher who played in the Major Leagues for the St. Louis Browns and the Boston Red Sox in the 1930s.

Additionally, Harlie L. Gowdy (1901-1980) was an American politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas from 1943 to 1947.

While the name Harlie may not have a long and illustrious history like some other names, its origins in Old English and its connection to the natural world give it a unique and intriguing meaning.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Harlie over time

The chart below compares boys and girls registered as Harlie in England and Wales, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Harlie, the clearest high point is 2017. The latest England and Wales figure is 30 births in 2024, compared with 62 at the peak.

Babies born per year

BoysGirls
018355370199620102024

Decades

Harlie by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Harlie was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #963 190 5
2010s #1128 348 10
2000s #1750 134 10
1990s #2257 31 4

Geography

Where Harlie is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Harlie. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Harlie ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #440 in 2016.

Scotland
4
Northern Ireland
3

Across the UK

Harlie in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#638 in 2024

15 years of NRS records, 83 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#440 in 2016

1 years of NISRA records, 3 total registered

Related

Names similar to Harlie

FAQ

Harlie: questions and answers

How popular is the name Harlie in the UK right now?

In 2024, Harlie was ranked #1128 for girls in England and Wales, with 30 births registered.

When was Harlie most popular?

The peak year on record was 2017, with 62 babies registered as Harlie in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Harlie?

Of uncertain etymology, potentially a feminine variant of Harry or Charles.

How many people are called Harlie in the UK?

A total of 703 babies have been registered as Harlie across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 83 more in Scotland and 3 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Harlie most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Harlie ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #440 in 2016. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.