# Harvey (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/harvey/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “iron”, “blazing” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɑ(ɹ)vi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Harv |
| Variant spellings | Hervey |
| US babies named this | 128,792 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 127,925 / 867 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 36,020, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 7 | 6,797 |
| 1977 | 5 | 10,158 |
| 2013 | 5 | 17,534 |
| 2014 | 5 | 17,493 |
| 2015 | 8 | 12,250 |
| 2016 | 13 | 8,574 |
| 2017 | 19 | 6,373 |
| 2018 | 10 | 10,079 |
| 2019 | 12 | 8,784 |
| 2020 | 16 | 7,036 |
| 2021 | 20 | 6,033 |
| 2022 | 18 | 6,548 |
| 2023 | 26 | 5,045 |
| 2024 | 26 | 5,066 |
| 2025 | 19 | 6,196 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 251 | 849 |
| 2012 | 288 | 787 |
| 2013 | 406 | 614 |
| 2014 | 578 | 487 |
| 2015 | 697 | 439 |
| 2016 | 778 | 412 |
| 2017 | 856 | 383 |
| 2018 | 683 | 443 |
| 2019 | 773 | 404 |
| 2020 | 714 | 416 |
| 2021 | 733 | 421 |
| 2022 | 797 | 402 |
| 2023 | 1,028 | 326 |
| 2024 | 1,446 | 245 |
| 2025 | 1,381 | 251 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,388 | 52 |
| 2012 | 1,456 | 48 |
| 2013 | 1,276 | 48 |
| 2014 | 1,228 | 48 |
| 2015 | 1,190 | 50 |
| 2016 | 1,102 | 54 |
| 2017 | 951 | 66 |
| 2018 | 779 | 78 |
| 2019 | 769 | 78 |
| 2020 | 662 | 86 |
| 2021 | 627 | 95 |
| 2022 | 512 | 109 |
| 2023 | 448 | 114 |
| 2024 | 465 | 114 |
| 2025 | 372 | 138 |

## In other languages

- French: Hervé
- Russian: Ха́рви
- Chinese: 哈維 /哈维
- Esperanto: Herve
- Greek: Ερβέος, Ερβέβιος

## People named Harvey

- Lee Harvey Oswald, American former marine who assassinated John F. Kennedy (1939–1963)
- 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
- Harvey Elliott, English association football player (born 2003)
- Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright
- Harvey Williams Cushing, American neurosurgeon (1869-1939)
- Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (1927–2008)
- Harvey Barnes, English association football player (born 1997)
- Harvey Pekar, American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality (1939-2010)
- Harvey Kurtzman, American cartoonist (1924–1993)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.