Boy · Old English and Old Norse
Harold
Say it: HAIR-uld
Meaning
From Old English Hereweald and Old Norse Haraldr, 'army' and 'power, rule'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Revived in the 19th century and very popular around 1900.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1920s
In the United States
- 553,066 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1920, about 1 in 78 boys
- 236 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Viking and Anglo-Saxon Age700 to 1100
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
| Norwegian | Harald |
|---|---|
| Danish | Harald |
Famous bearers
- Harold Godwinson, last Anglo-Saxon king
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Anglo-Saxon charters, chronicles and church records
- Royal and noble genealogies
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.