How common is the surname Harper?

124,461 people in the United States had the surname Harper in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,481 Americans. It ranked 245th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Harper?

Stephen Harper, 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015, followed by Ben Harper.

Where is the surname Harper most common?

Wikidata records people named Harper in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Harper?

Harper is /ˈhɑɹpɚ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Harper getting more or less common?

More common. 119,868 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 124,461 in 2010, up 3.8%.

Is Harper also a first name?

Yes. Harper is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Harper

An English occupational surname, carried by 124,461 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈhɑɹpɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex H616 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Harper is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

English origin

Inherited from Middle English Harpere.

Harper is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 124,461 people named Harper in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,481 Americans. That is up 3.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 119,868.

#245

rank among US surnames

124,461

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.8%

change since 2000 (was #226)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#236	Chapman	127,939	2,413
#237	Rios	127,794	2,416
#238	Estrada	127,470	2,422
#239	Ortega	127,256	2,426
#240	Watkins	127,083	2,429
#241	Greene	126,101	2,448
#242	Nunez	125,350	2,463

Who is named Harper

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

68% of people named Harper identified as white (not Hispanic), 26% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 68%
Black (not Hispanic) 26%
Two or more races 2.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Harpers

47 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Stephen Harper
22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015
Ben Harper
American singer-songwriter and musician, born 1969
Valerie Harper
American actress (1939-2019)
Ron Harper
American basketball player (born 1964)
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
American writer, 1825–1911
Hill Harper
American actor and political candidate (born 1966)
Shane Harper
American actor and singer, born 1993
Jessica Harper
American actress (born 1949)
Dawn Harper-Nelson
American hurdler, born 1984
Tess Harper
American actress, born 1950
William Jackson Harper
American actor, born 1980
Derek Harper
American basketball player (born 1961)

Notable Harpers come mostly from the United States (36), the United Kingdom (5) and Australia (3).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Harper

Harper has the Soundex code H616, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H616.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Harper come from?: Inherited from Middle English Harpere.
How common is the surname Harper?: 124,461 people in the United States had the surname Harper in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,481 Americans. It ranked 245th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Harper?: In the 2010 Census, 68% of people named Harper identified as white (not Hispanic), and 26% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Harper?: Stephen Harper, 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015, followed by Ben Harper.
Where is the surname Harper most common?: Wikidata records people named Harper in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Harper?: Harper is /ˈhɑɹpɚ/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Harper?: Harper is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Harper getting more or less common?: More common. 119,868 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 124,461 in 2010, up 3.8%.
Is Harper also a first name?: Yes. Harper is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.