| Harper | Nancy | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Harp player | grace, favour |
| Origin | English | english |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | HAR-per | NAN-see |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1971 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2016 (10,803) | 1947 (32,445) |
| In 2025 | 6,792 | 0 |
| Trend | Rising | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Harper | Nancy |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 47,509 | 1,677 |
| 2010s | 85,193 | 3,928 |
| 2000s | 5,671 | 10,959 |
| 1990s | 563 | 19,495 |
| 1980s | 82 | 25,493 |
| 1970s | 45 | 41,850 |
| 1960s | 0 | 142,724 |
| 1950s | 0 | 286,812 |
| 1940s | 0 | 252,061 |
| 1930s | 0 | 142,488 |
| 1920s | 0 | 43,807 |
| 1910s | 0 | 17,283 |
| 1900s | 0 | 5,733 |
| 1890s | 0 | 5,346 |
| 1880s | 0 | 4,792 |
Harper is an English occupational surname for someone who played or made harps. Boosted by the novelist Harper Lee, it became a hugely popular girls’ name.
Originally a medieval diminutive of Ann (from a misdivision of 'mine Ann' into 'my Nan'), carrying Ann's meaning of grace or favour from Hebrew Hannah. An older alternative traces it to Agnes ('pure'), so the grace meaning is the usual but not sole account.
Harper is more popular than Nancy today: about 6,792 US babies were given the name Harper in 2025, compared with 0 named Nancy.
Harper means Harp player (English origin), while Nancy means grace, favour (english origin).
In US records, Harper first appears in 1971 and Nancy in 0, so Nancy has the longer recorded history.