The Harper surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 124,461 people carried this name — #245 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,370 people counted. That is up 4% from 119,868 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Harper surname
Inherited from Middle English Harpere.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Harper» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 51 births for the Harper name in 1890.
Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 2,300 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The count includes the spelling Harpur.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
78 people named Harper live in Switzerland.
They live in 9 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 56 people named Harper.
Most of them — 42 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 4 départements, most often Oise.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
24 people named Harper have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 58 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 6 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
84 people named Harper are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s
Harper was found among the farmers of 7 counties.
It was most frequent in Buckinghamshire: 30 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 333. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.
Where it concentrates, on the mapPer 10,000 farmers, by county
H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.
In print
Harper in American newspapers,
1874–1924.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,897,240 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Harper,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Johann Harper 1688–1746 · artist -
Adolf Friedrich Harper 1725–1806 · painter -
Robert Goodloe Harper 1765–1825 · lawyer -
James Harper 1795–1869 · politician -
John Harper 1809–1842 · architect
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 186 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Harper.
- Harnisch 578 · U.S. census
- Harnist 156 · U.S. census
- Harnois 830 · U.S. census
- Haro 11,547 · U.S. census
- Haroun 378 · U.S. census
- Haroutunian 408 · U.S. census
- Harpin 480 · U.S. census
- Harre 556 · U.S. census
- Harrer 639 · U.S. census
- Harriet 230 · U.S. census
- Harris 624,252 · U.S. census
- Harrison 181,091 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Harper is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.