Meaning and history
From an English surname originally given to someone who played or made harps, derived from Old English hearpe, Harper is a name notably borne by the American author Harper Lee (1926–2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rose rapidly in popularity in the 2000s and 2010s and entered the American top ten for girls in 2015.
20062006: 597 births, rank #510
2007: 729 births, rank #440
2008: 1,128 births, rank #296
2009: 1,904 births, rank #173
2010: 2,634 births, rank #120
20112011: 4,676 births, rank #54
2012: 7,199 births, rank #24
2013: 8,284 births, rank #16
2014: 9,619 births, rank #11
2015: 10,311 births, rank #10
20162016: 10,803 births, rank #11
2017: 10,524 births, rank #11
2018: 10,646 births, rank #9
2019: 10,497 births, rank #9
2020: 8,849 births, rank #10
20212021: 8,448 births, rank #10
2022: 8,227 births, rank #11
2023: 7,799 births, rank #11
2024: 7,394 births, rank #12
20252025: 6,792 births, rank #16
Harper moved from #12 to #16 for girls between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2016, with 10,803 births.