FastNamesHenry
Germanic and French name meaning "Derived from Continental Germanic Heimirich, composed of heim ('home', 'estate') and rīc ('ruler', 'power'), signifying 'ruler of the household' or 'estate lord'.". Ranked 5th for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Henry
Derived from Continental Germanic Heimirich, composed of heim ('home', 'estate') and rīc ('ruler', 'power'), signifying 'ruler of the household' or 'estate lord'.
Linguistically, Henry is classified under Germanic and French naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "HEN-ree".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Henry has been given to a total of 768,945 boys. It has also been given to 4,619 girls.
Peak year: Henry reached its highest relative share among boys in 1881, when 2,339 babies received the name (23,219 per million births).
All-time best rank: 5th place, first achieved in 2025.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 5th with 12,020 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 29th (up 24 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Henry in the 1920s than in any other decade (104,552 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 24,139 |
| 1890s | 21,664 |
| 1900s | 21,772 |
| 1910s | 79,667 |
| 1920s | 104,552 |
| 1930s | 70,419 |
| 1940s | 72,488 |
| 1950s | 62,230 |
| 1960s | 39,134 |
| 1970s | 23,511 |
| 1980s | 20,728 |
| 1990s | 25,249 |
| 2000s | 42,760 |
| 2010s | 92,585 |
| 2020s | 68,047 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Henry is most common in the US
Accounting for when Henry was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Mississippi: 1.9 times the national rate (19,252 births since 1910).
- South Carolina: 1.9 times the national rate (21,039 births since 1910).
- Hawaii: 1.7 times the national rate (3,614 births since 1910).
- Alaska: 1.6 times the national rate (1,237 births since 1910).
- Louisiana: 1.6 times the national rate (19,682 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Henry?
About 386,000 living American boys and men share the name Henry. Additionally, an estimated 1,800 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Henry is 24 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Henry
Henry traces to the Ancient Continental Germanic personal name Heimirich, formed from heim ('home', 'estate', or 'dwelling') and rīc ('ruler', 'king', or 'powerful'). The name was adopted by the Salian Frankish nobility and Ottonian German emperors (Heinrich I to Heinrich VII), establishing it as one of the supreme dynastic names of medieval European statecraft.
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, the name crossed into England as Henri, borne by eight kings of England—most famously Henry II (architect of the English Common Law), Henry V (victor at Agincourt), and Henry VIII. In early America, Henry was championed by Founding Father Patrick Henry ('Give me liberty, or give me death!'), permanently cementing its patriotic and constitutional prestige.
In official United States vital statistics, Henry represents one of the premier evergreen classic names in American history. It ranked in the national top twenty virtually without interruption from 1880 through 1920. After a gentle mid-century plateau, Henry staged a tremendous contemporary resurgence in the 2010s and 2020s, re-entering the national top ten in 2020 with over 11,000 newborn boys per year.
Notable people named Henry
- Patrick Henry (1736–1799), American Founding Father, first governor of Virginia, renowned for his 'Give me liberty, or give me death!' declaration
- Thierry Henry (1977–), French football legend, Arsenal all-time top goalscorer, 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 champion
- Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), American philosopher, essayist, and naturalist, author of Walden and Civil Disobedience
- Henry Cavill (1983–), British actor renowned for portraying Superman in the DC Extended Universe and Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 122.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 149.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.