Henry is a

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

derived from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

''Henri'' or ''Henry'', which is derived from the Old Frankish name ''Heimeric'', from Common Germanic “''Haimarīks”'' (from '':wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/haimaz, *haima-'' "home" and ''*rīk-'' "ruler"). In

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

, the name was conflated with the name ''Haginrich'' (from ''hagin'' "enclosure" and ''rich'' "ruler") to form Heinrich. The Old High German name is recorded from the 8th century, in the variants ''Haimirich, Haimerich, Heimerich, Hemirih''. Harry, its English short form, was considered the "spoken form" of Henry in

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Middle Ages, medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early modern Britain, early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the co ...

. Most English kings named ''Henry'' were called ''Harry''. The name became so popular in England that the phrase " Tom, Dick, and Harry" began to be used to refer to men in general. The most common English feminine forms of the name are Harriet and Henrietta. An Italian variant descended from the Old High German name, Amerigo, was the source from which the continents of the Americas were named. It has been a consistently popular name in English-speaking countries for centuries. It has also ranked among the top 100 most popular names used for men born in the Canada, United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and also in European countries such as Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Henry has been among the 10 most popular names for boys in Australia since 2017; in the United States since 2020; in England and Wales in 2021 and again in 2023. It was the 46th most common name for boys and men in the United States in the 1990 census, and has ranked among the ten most popular names for American newborn boys since 2020. Henry was the 23rd most popular name among

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

students in 2025. The name was more popular for newborn boys who went on to attend Harvard than it was for newborn American boys among the general population of the United States during the years the future Harvard students were born. Harry, its short form, has been among the top 100 names in the United Kingdom since 1994 and among the top 10 names at different times between 2000 and 2021, and among the top 100 names in Ireland since the 1990s and among the top 10 names at different times between 2011 and 2020. It is also in use as a surname.

Masculine variants

In the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

, the name was Latinized as ''

Henricus The "Citie of Henricus"—also known as Henricopolis, Henrico Town or Henrico—was a settlement in Virginia founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at James ...

''. It was a royal name in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

throughout the high medieval period ( Henry I of Germany,

Henry I of England Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...

Henry I of France Henry I (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) was King of the Franks from 1031 to 1060. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. ...

) and widely used as a given name; as a consequence, many regional variants developed in the languages of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. Within German,

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

, Frisian, and Dutch, numerous

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

s and abbreviated forms exist, including Low German, Dutch and Frisian ''Heike'', ''Heiko''; Dutch ''Hein'', ''Heintje''; and German ''Heiner'', ''Heinz''. The original

diphthong A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...

was lost in Dutch '' Hendrik'' ( hypocoristics ''Henk'', ''Hennie'', ''Rik'') and Scandinavian '' Henrik''from an Old Norse ''*Heinrekr''
nordicnames.de
/ref> (whence '' Henning'').

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

an languages developed native forms during the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

under the influence of German and the Scandinavian languages; hence Polish '' Henryk''; Czech '' Jindřich'', '' Hynek''; Hungarian, Slovene, and

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

''Henrik''; Finnish ''Henrikki'' (hypocoristic ''Heikki''); and Lithuanian ''Henrikas'' or ''Herkus''. The

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

form ''Henri'' and Middle French">Henri">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

Masculine variants

Feminine variants

Surnames

In different languages

People with the given name

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Notes