Claim: Harley Quinn's name is a play on the name "Harlequin."

Harley Quinn -LRB- Harleen Frances Quinzel -RRB- is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm , and first appeared in Batman : The Animated Series in September 1992 . She later appeared in DC Comics ' Batman comic books , with the character 's first comic book appearance in The Batman Adventures # 12 -LRB- September 1993 -RRB- .   Harley Quinn is the frequent accomplice and lover of the Joker , whom she met while working as a psychiatric intern at Gotham City 's Arkham Asylum , where the Joker was a patient . Her name is a play on the name `` Harlequin '' , a character which originated in the commedia dell ` arte .   The character was originally voiced by Arleen Sorkin in various tie-ins to the DC animated universe . Since then , she has also been voiced by Hynden Walch and Tara Strong in either DC Animated Showcases or in various video games . In the Birds of Prey television series , she was portrayed by actress Mia Sara . The character made her live-action cinematic debut in the 2016 film Suicide Squad , portrayed by Margot Robbie .