Henry (given name)


Henry is a masculine given name derived from Old French Henri or Henry, which is derived from the Old Frankish name Heimeric, from Common GermanicHaimarīks”. In Old High German, the name was conflated with the name Haginrich 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 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 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 name was Latinized as Henricus. It was a royal name in Germany, France, and England throughout the high medieval period and widely used as a given name; as a consequence, many regional variants developed in the languages of Western and Central Europe.
Within German, Low German, Frisian, and Dutch, numerous diminutives and abbreviated forms exist, including Low German, Dutch and Frisian Heike, Heiko; Dutch Hein, Heintje; and German Heiner, Heinz.
The original diphthong was lost in Dutch Hendrik and Scandinavian Henrik.
Eastern European languages developed native forms during the medieval period under the influence of German and the Scandinavian languages; hence Polish Henryk; Czech Jindřich, Hynek; Hungarian, Slovene, and Serbo-Croatian Henrik; Finnish Henrikki ; and Lithuanian Henrikas or Herkus.
The Old French form Henri and Middle French form Henry became popular in the British Isles, adopted into Middle English as Harry, Herry. Herry was adopted into Welsh as Perry; into Irish as Annraoi, Anraí, and Einrí; and into Scottish Gaelic as Eanraig, Eanruig.
In Southern Europe, variants without the initial "H" include Italian Arrigo, Enrico, and Enzo; Catalan language and Occitan Enric; and Spanish Enrique.
A separate variant, which may have originated with the Old High German name Haimirich but was possibly conflated with the names Ermenrich or Amalric, is Emmerich. Emmerich is the origin of a separate suite of variant names used across Western and Central Europe, although these never rose to the ubiquity of the variants of Henry: English Emery, Amery, Emory; French Émeric, Aymeric; Hungarian Imre, Imrus; Slovak Imrich; Italian Amerigo; and Iberian Américo.

Feminine variants

Several variants of Heinrich have given rise to derived feminine given names.
Low German Henrik, Hendrik gave rise to Henrike, Hendrike, Hendrikje, Hendrina, Henrika and others, Low German Heiko to Heike, Italian Enrico gave rise to Enrica, 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. In Polish Henryka, Henia, Heniusia, Henka, Henryczka, Henrysia, Rysia are attested. 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, Henson, Harris, Heaney, Fitzhenry, Heinz, Enríquez, Henriques, Heney, Henney,
Hendrick,
Hendricks,
Hinrichs,
Hendrickx,
Hendriks,
Hendrikx,
Hendrix,
Hendryx, Henderson, Hendrickson, Henderickson.

In different languages

People with the given name

Royalty

;Byzantine Emperor
;Holy Roman Emperors
;Kings of England
;Junior King of England
;King of East Francia
;Kings of France
;Kings of Castile
;King of Portugal
;Others

Religious figures

Nobility

Presidents and prime ministers

Wartime figures and military leaders

Politicians

Film

Music

Scientists

Businessmen

  • Henry Bizot, French banker and first chairman of the Banque Nationale de Paris
  • Henry Canoy, Filipino businessman and founder of Radio Mindanao Network
  • Henry Cheng, Hong Kong billionaire property developer
  • Henry Flagler, American tycoon, real estate promoter, and railroad developer, known as the father of Miami, Florida
  • Henry Fok, Hong Kong businessman
  • Henry Ford, American inventor, industrialist, father of the modern assembly line, and founder of Ford Motor Company
  • Henry Givens Burgess, Irish railway executive and politician
  • Henry J. Heinz, German entrepreneur and founder of Heinz Ketchup company
  • H. F. S. Morgan, English sports car manufacturer and founder and chairman of the Morgan Motor Company
  • Henry Sy, Chinese-Filipino billionaire, business magnate, investor, philanthropist and founder of SM Prime Holdings Inc.

Explorers

Literary figures

Criminals

Artists

Sportsmen

Others

Fictional characters