Harrison: Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, & Inspiration

Meaning and Origin of: Harrison

Harrison is of German origin and means "house ruler." It's also of English origin and means "Army Ruler."

Boy name origins & meanings

Old English : Army ruler
German : Ruler of the household
German : House ruler

What does Harrison mean and stand for?

The name Harrison is of German origin and means "house ruler." It's also of English origin and was used as a surname to refer to a son of Harry.

Syllables: 3

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

Northern English : patronymic from the medieval personal name Harry.
Harrison is an extremely common surname in northern England. One important and influential American family of bearers are descended from Benjamin Harrison, who emigrated from England to VA in 1633 or 1634. Descendants include another Benjamin Harrison (?1726–91), who was an activist in the American Revolution and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His son William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) and great-grandson Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901) both became presidents of the U.S.

Famous people with this first name

Harrison Ford

Famous people with this last name

George Harrison

Popularity

According to Social Security Administration data, Harrison has been all over the charts, starting out rather low before seeing a quick uptick only to drop a few ranks again. At its peak, Harrison ranked 107 in 2016. While it's declined slightly, it remains in the top 120.

However, it is the 11th most popular name on FamilyEducation.com.

According to Google search data analysis, in the last five years Harrison was at its peak popularity in December 2017.

Harrison first gained popularity as a surname, but was given much more commonly as a first name with the popularity of actor Harrison Ford. Other notable namesakes include basketball player Harrison Bryce Jordan Barnes, actor Harrison Page, singer Harrison Craig, publisher Harrison Gray Otis, and musician George Harrison. It has also been chosen as character names in Dexter, Scandal, and Popular.