Herbert

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Boy · Germanic, through Norman French

Herbert

Say it: HUR-bert

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Germanic heri 'army' and berht 'bright'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Bright

Recorded in Domesday Book and revived in the 19th century.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1920s

In the United States

0246818801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1929per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 229,080 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1929, about 1 in 137 boys
  • 59 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  3. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishGermanFrenchAmerican

The family of the name

Other spellings: Herb, Bert, Harbert

GermanHerbert
FrenchHerbert
ItalianErberto
SpanishHeriberto
LatinHeribertus
GermanHeribert

Famous bearers

  • Herbert Hoover, US president
  • Saint Heribert of Cologne

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • The Domesday Book (1086) source
  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • Medieval European charters and records
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • 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.