Henry (given name)

Henry is an English male 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").[1][2] In Old High German, the name was conflated with the name Haginrich (from hagin "enclosure" and rich "ruler") to form Heinrich.[3]

Henry
King Henry VIII of England, arguably the most well-known Henry in history.
Pronunciation/ˈhɛnri/
GenderMale
Name dayJuly 13
Origin
Word/nameEngland
MeaningHome ruler
Ruler of (the) home
Ruler of the homeland
Other names
Related namesHeinrich, Heinz, Hinrich, Hinnerk, Henning, Emerich, Emmerich (German),
Henrik (Scandinavian),
Henri (French),
Enrique, Americo (Spanish),
Enrico, Amerigo (Italian),
Imre (Hungarian),
Hein, Hendrik (Dutch),
Henrique (Portuguese),
Henryk (Polish),
Jindrich (Czech),
Hynek (Czech),
Genri, Genrikh (Russian),
Enzo (Italian);
Heinrici, Henrici, Henricus (Latin),
Ints, Ingus, Indriķis, Anrijs (Latvian),
Heiki, Indrek, Hindrek (Estonian)
Nicknames
Harry, Hank, Hal
Feminine forms
Henrietta, Harriet

The Old High German name is recorded from the 8th century, in the variants Haimirich, Haimerich, Heimerich, Hemirih.[4] 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.

It has been a consistently popular name in English-speaking countries for centuries. It was among the top 100 most popular names used for boys 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.[5] 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.[6]

Its variant, Amerigo, was the source from which the continents of Americas were named.

In different languages

Masculine variants

In the High Middle Ages, the name was Latinized as Henricus. It was a royal name in Germany, France and England throughout the high medieval period (Henry I of Germany, Henry I of England, Henry I of France) and widely used as a given name; as a consequence, many regional variants developed in the languages of Western and Central Europe:[7]

Within German, Low German, Frisian and Dutch, numerous diminutives and abbreviated forms exist, including Low German, Dutch and Frisian Heike, Heiko; Dutch Hein, Heintje; German Heiner, Heinz.

The original diphthong was lost in Dutch Hendrik (hypocoristics Henk, Hennie, Rik), Scandinavian Henrik[8] (whence Henning).

Eastern European languages under the influence of German and the Scandinavian languages during the medieval period have developed native forms: Polish Henryk, Czech Jindřich, Hynek. Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian Henrik Finnish Henrikki (hypocoristic Heikki), Lithuanian Henrikas, Lithuanian Herkus.

The French form Henri became productive in the British Isles, in Middle English adopted as Harry, Herry. Herry was adopted into Welsh as Perry, in Irish as Annraoi, Anraí, Einrí and in Scottish Gaelic as Eanraig, Eanruig.

In Southern Europe variants without the initial /h/ include Italian Arrigo, Enrico, Catalan Enric and Spanish Enrique (whence Basque Endika) and Italian Enzo.

A separate variant, which may originate with the Old High German name Haimirich, but possibly conflated with the names Ermenrich (first element ermen "whole") or Amalric (first element amal "vigour, bravery") is Emmerich. Emmerich is the origin of a separate suit of variant names used across Western and Central Europe, although these never rose to the ubiquity of the variants of Henry; they include English Emery Amery, Emory, French Émeric, Hungarian Imre, Imrus, Slovak Imrich, Italian Amerigo and Iberian (Portuguese, Spanish, Galician) Américo, etc.

Feminine variants

Several variants of Heinrich have given name to derived feminine given names; Low German Henrik, Hendrik gave rise to Henrike, Hendrike, Hendrikje, Hendrina, Henrika etc. Low German Heiko to Heike Italian Enrico gave rise to Enrica ( Enrika, Enriqua) Spanish Enrique to Enriqueta, Enriquetta, Enriquette. French Henri gave rise to Henriette, Henrietta, further modified to Enrieta, Enrietta English Harry to Harriet, Harriett, Harrietta, Harriette, hypocorisms Hattie, Hatty, Hettie, Etta, Ettie; various other hypocorisms include Hena, Henna, Henah, Heni, Henia, Henny, Henya, Henka, Dutch Jet, Jett, Jetta, Jette, Ina; Polish Henryka, Henia, Heniusia, Henka, Henryczka, Henrysia, Rysia. The hypocorisms Rika, Rike (etc.) may be from this or other names with the second element -ric. Spanish and Portuguese América from the Emmerich variant Amérigo .

Surnames

Harrison (surname), Henson (surname), Harris (surname), Heaney (Irish surname), Fitzhenry (Irish Hiberno-Norman surname), Heinz (German surname), Enríquez (Spanish surname), Henriques (Portuguese surname), Hendrick, Hendricks, Hinrichs, Hendrickx, Hendriks, Hendrikx, Hendrix, Hendryx.

People with the given name
See also: List of rulers named Henry

Royalty

Religious figures

Nobility

Presidents and Prime Ministers

Wartime figures and military leaders

Politicians

Movie Industry

Musicians

Scientists

Businessmen
  • Henry Bizot (1901–1990), French banker, first chairman of Banque Nationale de Paris
  • Henry Flagler (1830–1913), American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer, known as the father of Miami, Florida
  • Henry Ford (1863–1947), American industrialist, father of the modern assembly line, Ford Motor Company and 161 patents
  • William Henry "Bill" Gates, American business magnate, software developer, investor, and philanthropist, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president and chief software architect, one of the entrepreneurs and pioneers of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s
  • Henry J. Heinz, German enterpreteur and founder of Heinz Ketchup company
  • H. F. S. Morgan (1881–1959), English sports car manufacturer and founder and chairman of the Morgan Motor Company
  • Henry Sy (1924–2019), Chinese-Filipino billionaire, business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Explorers
  • Henry Hudson (born c. 1560s/70s), English sea explorer
  • Henry the Navigator (1394–1460), responsible for the early development of European exploration and maritime trade with other continents

Literary figures

Criminals

Artists

Sportsmen
  • Henry "Hank" Aaron (born 1934), American baseball player
  • Henry Bibby (born 1949), American basketball player
  • Henry Cárdenas (born 1965), Colombian road cyclist
  • Henry Cejudo (born 1987), American mixed martial artist and UFC Flyweight Champion
  • Henry Collins (boxer) (born 1977), Australian boxer
  • Henry Cooper (boxer) (1934–2011), British boxer, British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion in 1970
  • Henry Duhamel (1853–1917), French mountaineer, author and skiing pioneer
  • Henry Louis Gehrig (Lou Gehrig) (1903-1941), American All-Star professional baseball player, nicknamed, "The Iron Horse."
  • Hank Greenberg (1911–1986), American Hall of Fame baseball player
  • Henry Hynoski (born 1988), American football player
  • Henry Hynoski, Sr. (born 1953), American football player
  • Henry Marsh (athlete) (born 1954), American long-distance runner
  • Henry Maske (born 1964), German boxer
  • Henry Menzies (1867–1938), Scottish rugby union player
  • Henry Obst (1906–1975), American football player
  • Henry Orth (American football) (1897–1980), American football player
  • Henry Prusoff (1912–1943), American top 10 tennis player
  • Henry Ruggs (born 1999), American football player
  • Henry Schichtle (born 1941), American football player
  • Henry Speight (born 1988), Australian rugby union player
  • Henry Surtees (1991–2009), British racing driver
  • Henry Sugut (born 1985), Kenyan long-distance runner

Others

Fictional characters

Other uses

Notes
  1. "Historische woordenboeken op internet (gtb.inl.nl)".
  2. Van Den Reinaerde, Jacob Wijbrand Muller. P122 appendix. 'Ermerijc'.
  3. The contribution of Haimirich, Haimrich is more significant than that of the (rarer) Haginrich, Hainrich: "In formen wie Hainrich u. s. w. fliessen die beiden namen Haimirich und Gaganrich anz in einander hinüber. Doch ist die erstere die hauptquelle unseres namens Heinrich. Von den beiden alten erklärungen desselben, = Hainreich und = daheim reich, kommt daher die zweite der wahrheit näher als die erste." E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 593, cf "Heinrich", nordicnames.de.
  4. The spelling Heinrich dates to the 11th century, alongside numerous variants (Heimirich, Heimarih, Heimeric, Haimrich, Heimrich, Heimrih, Hemerich, Hemric, Hemrich, Hemmerich, Aimirich, Heinrich Hinrich, Henric, Henrih, Ainrich, Enerich, Enrich etc.) E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 591
  5. Campbell, Mike. "Henry". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  6. Campbell, Mike. "Harry". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  7. "Names related to Henri". Behind the Name.
  8. from an Old Norse *Heinrekr nordicnames.de
gollark: Which numbers?
gollark: I hope 3000-series Ryzens and Navi are good.
gollark: I wonder if it's any good.
gollark: You know, the Vega 56 is about the same price, actually.
gollark: Praise supreme overlord AMD and all, but honestly their GPUs are quite meh.
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