A modern spelling of Harley, from an English surname meaning 'hare meadow.'
Harli is a modern feminine spelling of Harley, a name with deep roots in the Old English landscape. The original form Hærleah — meaning "the hare's meadow" or "the clearing of the hares" — was a place name in England that evolved into a surname carried by noble families, including the Earls of Oxford, whose most famous scion was Robert Harley, the influential early 18th-century politician who founded the Harleian Library. Like many English surnames, Harley made its way into the pool of given names during the Victorian era, when surname-as-first-name was fashionable.
In the twentieth century, Harley became indelibly associated with the Harley-Davidson motorcycle — founded in Milwaukee in 1903 — lending the name a rebellious, open-road mythology that defined its masculine associations for decades. But the name's transition to feminine use accelerated dramatically after the introduction of Harley Quinn, the iconic DC Comics character who debuted in Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Harley Quinn's anarchic charisma and fierce independence gave the name a powerful new cultural valence, and the spelling variants Harlee, Harley, and Harli all flourished in the years following her mainstream breakout.
Harli, with its clean -i ending, participates in the contemporary convention of feminizing names through spelling — the same pattern seen in Charli, Brandi, and Emmi. It retains the name's gutsy, free-spirited energy while softening its visual presentation, resulting in a name that feels both bold and approachable.