Meaning and history
From an English surname derived from a place name, itself combining Old English hara “hare” or hær “rock, heap of stones” with leah “woodland, clearing,” Harley has been used as an American boys’ name since the 19th century and began to be used for girls after a character of that name appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light in 1987.
20062006: 836 births, rank #388
2007: 669 births, rank #485
2008: 781 births, rank #411
2009: 764 births, rank #419
2010: 717 births, rank #431
20112011: 716 births, rank #436
2012: 760 births, rank #413
2013: 878 births, rank #359
2014: 949 births, rank #350
2015: 1,136 births, rank #278
20162016: 1,433 births, rank #224
2017: 1,532 births, rank #202
2018: 1,415 births, rank #223
2019: 1,221 births, rank #273
2020: 1,115 births, rank #286
20212021: 1,046 births, rank #305
2022: 981 births, rank #328
2023: 891 births, rank #345
2024: 797 births, rank #396
20252025: 748 births, rank #418
Harley moved from #396 to #418 for girls between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2017, with 1,532 births.