Henry (given name)

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Henry is an English male given name and a surname, from the Old French Henri, Henry (modern Henri as a first name, Henry as a surname), derived itself from the Germanic name Haimiric (Old High German Haimirich > German Heinrich), which is a compound of the word elements HAIM, meaning "home, house, world" and RIK, meaning "power, ruler"^[1] and "mighty, distinguished, rich".^[2] Heinrich can be the younger form of Haginric.^[3] Harry, its English short form, was considered the "spoken form" of Henry in medieval England. Most English kings named Henry were called Harry. At one time, the name was so popular for English men that the phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry" was used to refer to everyone. The common English feminine forms of the name are Harriet and Henrietta.

Henry 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Masculine variants

Feminine variants

Given name

• Henry the Navigator (1394–1460), responsible for the early development of European exploration and maritime trade with other continents.
• Heiko Hiersche (born 1964), German guitarist. Later changed his name to Paul Landers.
• Henry, Bishop of Uppsala (died 1150), Bishop of Uppsala. He became a martyr in Finland
• Henry I the Bearded (ca. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238), High Duke of Poland
• Henry Francis Bryan (1865–1944), 17th Governor of American Samoa
• Henry of Coquet (died 1127), a hermit Dane and Catholic saint. He lived on the island of Coquet, off Northumberland, England.
• Henry of Livonia (born 1180), Catholic priest. Author of Chronicle of Henry of Livonia one of the earliest histories of the Eastern Baltic
• Henry Aaron (born 1934), American baseball player. Played from 1954–1976 and held the record for most career home runs (755) until it was broken in 2007
• Henry Allingham (1896–2009), briefly oldest man in world
• Henry de Audley (1175–1246), English baron
• Henry Bethard (born 1924), American lawyer and former state legislator
• Henry Roxby Beverley (1790–1863), English actor
• Henry Black (disambiguation), several people
• Henry G. Brinton (born 1960), American author and pastor. Contributor to The Washington Post, USA Today, and author of a few books
• Henry Cárdenas (born 1965), Colombian road cyclist
• Henry Cavill (born 1983), British actor
• Henry Clay (1777–1852), American/Kentucky statesman. A presidential candidate, compromiser, pacifier, War Hawk, and founder of the Whig Party
• Henry Collins (boxer) (born 1977), Australian boxer
• Henry Cooper (boxer) (1934–2011), British boxer. Was the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion in 1970
• Henry Duhamel (1853–1917), French mountaineer, author and skiing pioneer
• Henry Every (born c. 1653), British pirate. Made one of the richest plunders in sea history and then retired and vanished
• Henry Flagler (1830–1913), American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer, known as the father of Miama, Florida
• Henry Fonda (1905–1982), American actor. Acted in 115 films, with another 73 as himself, and 16 Broadway shows
• Henry Ford (1863–1947), American industrialist; father of the modern assembly line, Ford Motor Company, and 161 patents
• Hank Greenberg (1911–1986), American Hall of Fame baseball player. A premier power hitter and one of the first Jewish superstars in American pro sports
• Henry Harcourt (1873–1933), British politician
• Henry Harcourt (Jesuit) (1612–1673), English Jesuit
• Henry Hathaway (1898–1985), American film director
• Henry Hudson (born c. 1560s/70s), English sea explorer
• Henry James (1843–1916), American author
• Henry Kelly (born 1946), Irish television presenter and radio DJ
• Henry Kissinger (born 1923), German-born American politician
• Henry Louis Larsen (1890–1962), United States Marine Corps general; Governor of American Samoa and Governor of Guam
• Henry Lau (born 1989), Chinese singer, dancer and violinist in the Chinese boy band Super Junior-M
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82), American poet
• Henry Mancini (1924–94), American composer
• Henry Marsh (athlete) (born 1954), American long-distance runner
• Henry Menzies (1867–1938), Scottish rugby player
• Henry Miller (1891–1980), American author
• Henry Bertram Price, Governor of Guam
• Henry Purcell (1659–95), English composer
• Henry Ramsay (disambiguation), several people
• Henry Rollins (born 1961), American singer
• Henry Parker Sartwell (1792–1867), American botanist
• Henry Schichtle (born 1941), American football player
• Henry Surtees (1991–2009), British racing driver
• Henry Sugut (born 1985), Kenyan long-distance runner
• Henry David Thoreau (1817–62), American author
• Henry Turner (disambiguation), several people
• Prince Harry (born 1984; formally Prince Henry of Wales), British prince and military officer
• Ryan Henry Ward, American artist who signs his work as "Henry"
• Henry Winkler (born 1945), American actor, producer
• Hank Winter, British football journalist for the newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Fictional characters

• Henry, a persona or character from John Berryman's Dream Songs
• Henry the Green Engine, a steam locomotive from The Railway Series of books by Reverend W. Awdry
• Henry Gupta, character from the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies
• Henry Huggins, a character created by Beverly Cleary
• Henry Higgins, a major character in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion and also in the musical adaptation My Fair Lady
• Henry Hugglemonster, a character from Henry Hugglemonster
• Henry Jekyll, title character in the Robert Louis Stevenson novelThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr. (Indiana Jones), the title character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise
• Henry Keddys, minor character in Chris Lilley's mockumentary series Angry Boys
• Henry, a character from the 2008 video game No More Heroes
• Henry J. Waternoose, a character from Monsters, Inc.
• Henry, a character from the television show, KaBlam!
• Henry (comic), a comic character that began in 1932
• Henry Pym (aka Ant Man, Giant Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket), fictional character in the Marvel Universe
• Henry Rearden, steelmaker from the Ayn Rand book Atlas Shrugged
• Henry Baker, a character from the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel
• Henry Townshend, the main protagonist in the game Silent Hill 4
• Uncle Henry, character from the Oz books by L. Frank Baum
• Henry and Orville, the second pair of ghosts that Luigi encounters in Luigi's Mansion, and, since counted as one ghost, they are the 14th ghost Luigi encounters
• Horrid Henry, fictional character and children' comedy TV show
• Henry Deacon, fictional character from the TV series Eureka
• Henry Mills, a primary character from the TV series Once Upon a Time
• Henry I, other character from the TV series Once Upon a Time
• Henry "Hank" MacDougall (played by Fred Willard), the pious father-in-law of Robert Barone, from the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.
• Lord Henry Wotton from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is referred to as "Harry".
• Henery Hawk, Warner Bros. Looney Tunes character.

See also

Notes