Henry (given name)

Henry is a masculine given name derived from Old French Henri / Henry, itself derived from the Old Frankish name Heimeric, from Common Germanic *Haimarīks (from *haima- "home" and *rīk- "ruler"). In Old High German, 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. 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 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 was among the top 100 most popular names used for men born in the United States, England and Wales, and in Australia in 2007. 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 in 2020. Harry, its short form, was the fifth most popular name for boys in England and Wales in 2007 and among the top 50 names in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland in recent years. Harry was ranked as the 578th most popular name in the United States in 2007. It is also in use as a surname.