Hari is of Sanskrit origin, meaning 'sun'. It is widely recognized as a male given name in India and other South Asian communities. The name Hari is often used interchangeably with Hara, which also signifies the sun deity Surya. In Hindu mythology, Hari is one of the 108 names of Lord Vishnu, signifying his aspect of 'remover of obstacles'.
The name Hari experienced a significant rise in popularity from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, with the highest number of births recorded in 2002 (32) and 2003 (33). However, since then, its popularity has fluctuated, with the number of births per year ranging from a low of 5 in some years to a high of 31 in 2017. Overall, there have been a total of 811 babies named Hari between 1968 and 2023.