Howard
Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for it except that it is the name of several noble families". The surname has a number of possible origins; in the case of the noble family, the likely source is the Norse given name Hávarðr, composed of the elements há and varðr.
Diminutives include Howie and Ward. Howard reached peak popularity in the United States in the 1920s, when it ranked as the 26th most popular boys' name. As of 2018, it had fallen to 968th place.
People with the given name
- Howard Allen, American serial killer
- Howard Duane Allman, American guitar virtuoso
- Howard Anderson, name of several people
- Howard Andrew, American poker player
- Howard Ashman, American playwright, lyricist and stage director
- Howard Baker, name of several people
- Howard Berman, American attorney and politician
- Howard Bragman, American crisis manager and publicist
- Howard W. Brill, chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court
- Howard Graham Buffett, American businessman, politician, philanthropist, photographer, farmer, and conservationist
- Howard Burnett , Jamaican track and field athlete
- Howard J. Burnett, American president of Washington & Jefferson College
- Howard Carpendale, German singer
- Howard Carter, name of several people
- Howard S. Chasanow, justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals
- Howard Chaykin, American comic book artist and writer
- Howard Y T Cheng, champion apprentice jockey in Hong Kong
- Howard Cosell, sports broadcaster
- Howard "Ward" Cunningham, American founder of WikiWikiWeb
- Howard B. Cushing, American soldier during the Civil War
- Howard David, American sportscaster
- Howard Davies, name of several people
- Howard Davis, name of several people
- Howard Dean, American politician
- Howard Donald, English singer
- Howard Devoto, English singer-songwriter
- Howard Duff, American actor
- Howard Eastman, Guyanese-British boxer
- Howard Ehmke, American baseball pitcher
- Howard Eisenberg, American author and journalist
- Howard Eisley, American basketball player and coach
- Howard Engel, Canadian mystery writer
- Howard Eskin, American sports radio personality
- Howard Evans, name of several people
- Howard Fast American novelist and television writer
- Howard Fineman, American journalist and television commentator
- Howard Florey, Australian pharmacologist
- Howard Gardner, American developmental psychologist
- Howard Goodall, British musician, musicologist and TV presenter
- Howard Grant , Jamaican-Canadian boxer
- Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, educator, and music theorist
- Howard Hawks, American producer
- Howard Hesseman, American actor
- Howard Hotson, British historian
- Howard A. Howe, American virologist
- Howard Hughes, American aviation pioneer and film mogul
- Howard Jacobson, British novelist and journalist
- Howard Johnson, name of several people
- Howard Jones, name of several people
- Howard Judd, American physician and medical researcher
- Howard Kazanjian, Armenian-American film producer
- Howard Keel, singer and actor born Harry Keel
- Howard Kendall, English football player and manager
- Howard Kirshbaum, associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
- Howard Andrew Knox, American physician
- Howard Kurtz, American journalist and author
- Howard Lassoff, American-Israeli basketball player
- Howard Lederer, professional poker player
- Howard Lesnick, American, Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Howard Long, American convicted murderer
- H. P. Lovecraft, American writer
- Howard Lutnick, United States Secretary of Commerce
- Howard Hamilton Mackey, American architect, educator
- Howard McNear, American radio and television actor
- Howard Marks, teacher, drug smuggler and author
- Howard Matthews, English footballer
- Howard W. Mattson, American chemist and journalist
- Howard Metzenbaum American politician and businessman
- Howard Morris, American actor, comedian, and director
- Howard T. Odum, American ecologist
- Howard Payne , English hammer thrower
- Howard Pyle, American illustrator, painter, and author
- Howard Schatz, American fine art photographer
- Anne Rice, born Howard O'Brien, American author
- Howard Roberts American guitarist, educator, and session musician
- Howard Schultz, American businessman and CEO of Starbucks
- Howard Shane, American Autism researcher
- Howard Shore, Canadian composer
- Howard Sims African-American tap dancer
- Howard da Silva, American actor, director and musical performer
- Howard Smalley, New Zealand cricketer
- Howard Smith, name of several people
- Howard Smothers, American football player
- Howard Spira, American gambler who was paid by George Steinbrenner to find dirt on baseball player Dave Winfield
- Howard Stableford, British television and radio presenter
- Howard Staunton, British chess player and Shakespearean scholar
- Howard Stern, American talk-radio host
- Howard Stelzer American electro-acoustic music composer
- Howard K. Stern, attorney for Anna Nicole Smith
- Howard Stidham, American football player
- Howard Stupp, Canadian Olympic wrestler
- Howard Tayler, American cartoonist
- Howard Turner, American football player
- Howard Unruh, American spree killer
- Howard Van Smith, American journalist
- Howard Wales, American musician
- Howard Walker, name of several people
- Howard Walter, American Congregationalist minister and hymnist
- Howard Washington, American-Canadian basketball player
- Howard Watt, South African rugby union player
- Howard Watts III, American politician
- Howard Webb, English professional football referee
- Howard Weyers, American football player and assistant coach
- Howard Wilkinson, English football manager
- Howard Williams, name of several people
- Howard Wilson , American football player
- Howard Wilson, British physicist
- Howard Zinn, American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist
People known as Howie
- Howie B, Scottish musician and producer Howard Bernstein
- Howie Carr, American journalist
- Howie Day, American singer-songwriter
- Howie Dorough, American musician with Backstreet Boys
- Howie Epstein, American musician
- Howie Gordon, American pornographic actor
- Howie Hawkins, American politician and activist
- Howie Long, American former football player and actor
- Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian and actor, host of the TV show Deal or No Deal
- Howie Meeker, Canadian hockey player, TV sports announcer, Member of Parliament
- Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player
- Howie Nave, American comedian, radio personality, writer, promoter and movie critic
- Howie Rose, American sportscaster
- Howie Severino, Filipino broadcast journalist
- Howie Winter, American mobster
Fictional characters
- Howard Bellamy, in the British soap opera Doctors
- Howard Clifford, a fictional villain in the Detective Pikachu movie
- Howard Cunningham, in the TV series Happy Days
- Howard DeVille, in the animated series Rugrats
- Howard Hamlin, a fictional character on the AMC television series Better Call Saul
- Howard Huge, a comic strip dog
- Howard Hunter, in the TV series Hill Street Blues, played by James B. Sikking
- Howard Langston, in the 1996 film Jingle All the Way
- Howard McBride, in the animated series The Loud House
- Howard McGreggor, in the TV series Fresh Meat
- Howard Moon, in the TV series The Mighty Boosh, portrayed by Julian Barratt
- Howard Nichols, a character in the 1981 American made-for-television movie Fallen Angel
- Howard Roark, protagonist of Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead
- Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark/Iron Man
- Howard Wolowitz, a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.
- Howard the Duck, a comic book character
- Howard Link, a "Crow" and Inspector for the Black Order in the anime/manga D. Gray Man
- Howard Marner, a fictional character from Short Circuit
- Howard Silk, main character and agent in the TV series ''Counterpart''