Harold

What Harold means

Means “army + ruler, authority”

From a merger of Old English Hereweald and Old English Harold (itself from Old Norse Haraldr), both from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz, from *harjaz (“army”) +‎ *waldaz (“ruler, authority”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Harold” (revision 93790548), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Harold?

US: Falling: down from #808 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #1327 in 2015, #1226 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1920, when 13,678 boys got the name (#12 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 7,426 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 11,823 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in CT (0.38 per 1,000 boys), WI (0.38 per 1,000 boys), AL (0.28 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Harold is #991 in the US and #1226 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Harold were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Harald15 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Harold

Boys

• Edward#224“wealth, riches + ward, guard”^*
• Alfred#840“elf + counsel”^*
• Erik#545Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1980, with 4,918 babies; 549 in 2025
• Alvin#838“elf + friend”^*
• Edgar#486“rich + spear”^*
• Trey#883Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1999, with 1,798 babies; 269 in 2025

For a sister

• April#542“the month of the goddess Venus”^*
• Holly#416“wood, clearing, meadow”^*
• Amber#520“ambergris”^*
• Raven#404Editor’s note Up from #486 in 2015 to #404 in 2025 in the US
• Angel#546Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2002, with 3,100 babies; 551 in 2025
• Destiny#635Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #186 in 2015, #635 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under English, Scandinavian & Norse, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Harold’s. Rank is US 2025.