Harold
Featured in baby name books
Harold is an Old English and Scandinavian name meaning “army ruler” or “leader of armies,” with Hal and Harry as nicknames. Harold once had royal connotations and suggests smoking jackets and parlors lined with books, but it now seems endearingly dorky, as in the film Harold and Maude or the book Harold and the Purple Crayon. Famous Harolds include playwright Harold Pinter, director Harold Prince, and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. In the 1954 film Them!, entomologist Dr. Harold Medford is the one who realizes radiation has produced giant ants.
Sources: 10,000 Baby Names, 1,107 Baby Names That Stand the Test of Time, Baby Names Book, Baby Names (Laura Emerson), Baby Names Made Easy, Baby Names Your Child Can Live With, The Best Baby Names for Boys, The Everything Baby Names Book, Sci-Fi Baby Names
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Usage of Harold in different languages / cultures
The list below was created by gathering names from various sources for different languages, and then matching Harold against each list of names.
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Albanian
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Arabic
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Armenian
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Bengali
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Bulgarian
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Catalan
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Chinese
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Cornish
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Croatian
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Czech
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Danish
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Dothraki
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Dutch
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English
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Estonian
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Filipino
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Finnish
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French
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Georgian
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German
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Greek
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Hawaiian
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Hebrew
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Hindi
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Hungarian
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Icelandic
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Indonesian
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Irish
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Italian
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Japanese
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Khmer
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Klingon
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Korean
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Latin
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Latvian
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Lithuanian
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Macedonian
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Norwegian
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Persian
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Polish
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Portuguese
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Romanian
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Russian
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Scottish
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Serbian
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Slovak
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Slovenian
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Spanish
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Swahili
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Swedish
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Telugu
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Thai
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Turkish
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Ukrainian
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Vietnamese
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Welsh
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Yiddish
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Yoruba
Note: In some cases it is possible for the check mark to be missing even if Harold is used in a particular country, as almost no source name list has 100% coverage.
Harold in official name statistics
United States
In 2025, 230 boys were named Harold, making it the #991 boys' name in the US. Since 1880, 551,632 boys have been named Harold, with the most (14,149) in 1924. It is most common, relative to births, in Wisconsin, Connecticut and Alabama.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year are not listed.
Other countries
| Where | Rank | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada (Ontario) | #964 boys | 11 | Government of Ontario (Office of the Registrar General, ServiceOntario), 2024 |
| Israel | #984 boys (all ages) | 135 | Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Israel - from the Population Register, 1949-2024 |
Counts are babies born that year, or living people for "all ages" rows, as published by each country's statistics office or population register.
Harold in other languages
- Erik Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, German, Slovenian, Swedish
- Henri Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German
- Henrik Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
- Harald Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish
- Enrico Dutch, Italian
- Eric Dutch, French
- Harry Dutch, English
- Hein Dutch, German
- Heinrich Dutch, German
- Hendrik Dutch, Estonian
- Henry Dutch, English
- Eirik Norwegian
- Eiríkur Icelandic
- Enric Catalan
- Enrique Spanish
- Erich German
- Ericus Latin
- Eryk Polish
- Heinz German
- Hendricus Dutch
- Henk Dutch
- Henke German
- Henricus Dutch
- Henrikas Lithuanian
- Henrique Portuguese
- Henryk Polish
- Hynek Czech
- Jindřich Czech
- Èric Catalan
- Éric French
Harold name days
- November 1 France
Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Storms named Harold
Tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones that have been named Harold, newest first.
| Storm | Year | Ocean | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical storm Harold | 2023 | North Atlantic | 93 km/h |
| Cyclone Harold (Category 5) | 2020 | South Pacific | 269 km/h |
| Tropical storm Harold | 1997 | South Pacific | 111 km/h |
Source: IBTrACS, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Peak wind is the highest sustained wind recorded for the storm.
Towns named Harold
There are 11 towns and villages with Harold in their name, in 4 countries.
🇺🇸 United States 7🇬🇧 United Kingdom 2🇦🇹 Austria 1🇮🇪 Ireland 1
| Name | Where | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ewyas Harold | England, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 1,007 | Map |
| Harold | Florida, 🇺🇸 United States | 823 | Map |
| Harold | Carinthia, 🇦🇹 Austria | 21 | Map |
| Harold | Kansas, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Harold | Kentucky, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Harold | Missouri, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Harold | Minnesota, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Harold Heights | Maryland, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Harold, Palmdale | California, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Staunton Harold | England, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | – | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Lakes named Harold
There are 34 lakes and reservoirs with Harold in their name, in 2 countries.
🇨🇦 Canada 17🇺🇸 United States 17
| Name | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| Harold Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Manitoba, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Saskatchewan, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Alberta, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | British Columbia, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Harold Lake | Georgia, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Harold Lake | Georgia, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Harold songs
12 songs and musical works on Wikidata have Harold in their title. The best known:
- Harold en Italie – Hector Berlioz (1848)
- Harold the Barrel – Tony Banks (1971)
- Gasoline (Kicking Harold)
- Dancing Sunbeams (Harold Edwards) – Harold Edwards
- EWYAS HAROLD
- Glimpse of Harold Das – Anirudh Ravichander
- HAROLD (55176)
- HAROLD (Price)
- HAROLD'S CROSS
- Theme for Harold (var. 1) – Kevin MacLeod (2012)
Song data: Wikidata (CC0), ordered by how widely each song is covered on Wikipedia.
Celebrities named Harold
Based on celebrities listed on Wikipedia, filtered to only those with the first name Harold.
Harold Agnew
Harold Arlen
Harold Bell
Harold Betters
See more...
Fictional characters named Harold
Characters from films and TV series, from Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia.
Character data: Wikidata (CC0). Images: Wikimedia Commons; click an image for its author and licence.
Harold as a pet name
FurryName has found 66 dogs named Harold in public pet registers, making it the #1,849 dog name there. Most of them are registered in Tacoma (1), Golden Plains Shire (1), Victoria (1). Harold as a dog name →
Harold products
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