Henry
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Meaning
from Germanic Heimirich, "home ruler," through French Henri
Goes by Hal, Hank, Harry. See all nicknames
The story
Henry reached England with the Normans, through French Henri. Behind that form lies Germanic Heimirich, made from elements meaning “home” and “ruler.” Medieval English speakers also used Harry and Herry. Harry remains a familiar form of Henry and a name in its own right, while Spanish Enrique and Portuguese Henrique belong to the same wider family. The wedding order of service for Harry and Meghan gives the groom’s names as Henry Charles Albert David, then calls him Harry.
Eight kings of England bore Henry. The last, Henry VIII, changed the country’s relationship with the church in Rome. His efforts to settle his marriage and succession became a struggle over who held authority in England. Parliament removed the pope’s powers, and the Act of Supremacy in 1534 recognized the king as head of the Church of England.
Shakespeare’s Henry plays examine what holding a crown demands. They follow war in France and conflict between rival royal families; the victories associated with Henry V form part of a longer account that reaches civil war under Henry VI. These are works of drama interpreting the past, rather than a direct record of what each king said and did.
Henry Ford’s significance belongs to another kind of organization. In 1913, he and his team developed moving assembly lines for cars, combining methods that already existed in industry. Standardized parts and a sequence of tasks brought the work to the workers. Cars could be made with less time and expense, allowing lower prices for the Model T.
The novelist Henry James explored personal freedom and its limits. In The Portrait of a Lady, an idealistic American woman, Isabel Archer, travels in Europe and makes choices about love and marriage that bring disillusionment and betrayal. Her story gives shape to James’s sustained interest in what people can choose for themselves, and what other people and their circumstances allow them to choose.
Henry's name family
One shared root links 10 names across 2 languages.
Shared root: from Germanic Heimirich "home ruler", smoothed through French Henri; Harry was its everyday medieval English voice
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Henry around the world?
In the United States, 68,130 babies were named Henry between 2020 and 2025. In Norway, 138 boys were given the name Henry in 2025.
Henry is on the official records of the United States, Norway, South Australia, England and Wales, Canada, New South Wales, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, France, Mexico City, Poland, Chile, Montevideo, Spain and Argentina.
United States
1 in 320
In the United States, 68,130 babies were named Henry between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Henry peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Norway
1 in 200register 2026
In Norway, 138 boys were given the name Henry in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
South Australia
1 in 2102017
In South Australia, 89 boys were registered as Henry in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 260
In England and Wales, 2,295 boys named Henry were born in 2025, the 13th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 360
In Canada, 1,019 boys named Henry were born in 2024, the 12th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New South Wales
#6 · 2025
In New South Wales, 372 boys named Henry were registered in 2025, ranked 6th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
1 in 420
In New Zealand, 137 boys named Henry were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Austria
1 in 580
In Austria, 131 boys named Henry were born in 2025, the 60th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Ireland
1 in 690
In Ireland, 78 boys named Henry were born in 2025, the 76th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 820
In Scotland, 56 boys named Henry were registered in 2024, the 95th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Brazil
1 in 5,200
At the 2022 census, 39,067 people in Brazil were named Henry, the 682nd most common name, with a median age of 3.
Among people named Henry living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 20,834 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
France
1 in 7,200
In France, about 90 boys named Henry were born in 2025, the 500th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Mexico City City
1 in 9,800
In Mexico City, there were 12 registrations of Henry in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Poland
1 in 10,000
In Poland, 24 boys named Henry were born in 2025, the 239th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Chile
1 in 10,000
In Chile, 17 boys were registered as Henry in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
1 in 25,0002011
In Montevideo, 1 boy named Henry was born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Spain
1 in 27,000
In Spain, 1,691 residents are named Henry, the 911th most common name among men, with a mean age of 45 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
1 in 37,000
In Argentina, 18 newborns were given the name Henry in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Puerto Rico
last on record 2016
Henry is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 286 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Keep exploring
Names like Henry · Names that go with Henry · Nicknames for Henry · Middle names for Henry · Vietnamese American baby names · Names of kings and queens
The Henry deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Henry truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Henry fits with your family’s names and surname.
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