Harrold
Masculine · “Army ruler”
Two men called Harald fought for England in one year and both of them lost it. A Norwegian king with the Norse form of the name invaded in September and was killed in Yorkshire; the English king with the English form of it marched south, met a third claimant at Hastings, and was killed there three weeks later.
How old is the name Harrold?
Harrold first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Harrold alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 300 people named Harrold are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Harrold most popular?
Harrold peaked in 1906, reaching #798 nationally. See the whole 1906 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hereweald to Harrold
The story of Harrold
The English one had marched his army the length of the country and back inside three weeks. He was in London when the news came that a Norwegian fleet had landed in the north, went up in four days, won a battle that ended the Viking age in England, and was still there when a second fleet landed on the south coast; so he turned round and marched back. The army that fought at Hastings had walked something like six hundred miles in a month and fought a full battle in the middle of it. Whether the arrow in the eye happened at all is disputed, and the figure it is drawn on in the tapestry may not be him.
Meaning
Army ruler
Two Germanic elements, one meaning an army or host and one about rule or command. The name is native English and was reinforced by the Norse form during the Danish settlement, which is why the two kings of the same year carried what is genuinely the same name in two languages.
How the name formed
- Hereweald
- Harold
- Harrold
Related forms: Harald · Harald
Pronouncing Harrold
HAIR-uld
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second is reduced to nothing, which is why the doubled r changes nothing audible and only shortens the vowel in front of it on paper.
Nicknames for Harrold
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1898
- Most boys named
- 192346 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #798reached in 1906
- Change vs 1980
- 0.0%5 in 1988, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Harrold in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Harald in Norwegian — same name
- Harald in Danish — same name
Harrolds among us
people named Harrold are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Harrold sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Harry is available from the first day and is understood everywhere.
- The meaning is concrete and can be given to a child in two words.
- The name has a documented English line running back before the conquest.
- Harold is the standard spelling and this one will be corrected constantly.
- The doubled r reads as an error rather than a variant.
- It is strongly dated to the early twentieth century in American records.
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What they receive
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Harrold
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Harrolds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Harrold are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Harrold in 2025?
- Harrold is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Harrold with classmates?
- Harrold will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More H names
The most-given names starting with H, all years combined.
Henry#5 · Harold#991 · Harry#775 · Howard#1002 · Hunter#130 · Herbert#2641 · Herman#2363 · Harvey#251
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Harrold? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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