Harold (given name)
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Old English |
| Meaning | "army power", "army brightness" |
| Region of origin | England |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Hereweald, Herewald, Harald, Harry, Hal, Hally, Harland, Harlon, Harlan, Harrison, Henry, Harvey, Hendrik, Enrique |
Harold is a personal name derived from the Old English name Hereweald, derived from the Germanic elements here "army" and weald "power, brightness".[1] The Old Norse cognate, Haraldr, was also common among settlers in the Danelaw. Diminutives of Harold are Harry, Hank[citation needed] and Hal. The Old High German form is Heriwald or Heriold, from hari "army" and wald- "power, brightness". The Germanic name is recorded very early, as the name of Cariovalda (for Proto-Germanic *harja-waldaz), a king of the Batavi in Tacitus (1st century), and later (7th century), as Arioald, as the name of a king of the Lombards,[2] and in the 10th century as the name of Harald Bluetooth, as runic haraltr (ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ) in the Jelling stone inscription.
Medieval
- Hagrold (fl. 944–954), also known as Harold, Scandinavian chieftain in Normandy
- Harold Harefoot, or Harold I (c. 1015–1040), King of England from 1035 to 1040
- Harold Godwinson, or Harold II (c. 1022–1066), the last Anglo-Saxon king of England and Earl of Wessex
- Harold of Gloucester (died 1168), supposed child martyr and saint, allegedly murdered by Jews
- Harald Fairhair (850-932), the first King of Norway
- Arioald, king of the Lombards
Modern name
- Harold Abrahams, British Olympic champion sprinter and subject of Chariots of Fire
- Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, British Army officer who served with distinction in both the First World War and the Second World War and, afterwards, as Governor General of Canada, the 17th since Canadian Confederation
- Harold Arroyo, Puerto Rican boxer
- Harold Bailey (gridiron football) (born 1957), American football player
- Harold Walter Bailey (1899–1996), British linguist
- Harold Baker (photographer) (1860–1942), British photographer
- Harold Baker (politician) (1877–1960), British politician, Financial Secretary to the War Office 1912–1915
- H. A. Baker (1881–1971), American author and Pentecostal missionary
- Harold Baker (cricketer) (1884–1954), English cricketer
- Shorty Baker (1914–1966), American jazz musician
- Harold A. Baker (born 1929), federal judge on United States District Courts in Illinois
- George Harold Baker (1877–1916), lawyer, political figure, and soldier from Quebec, Canada
- Harold Brooks-Baker (1933–2005), American-British financier, journalist, and publisher, and self-proclaimed expert on genealogy
- Harold Bekkering (born 1965), Dutch cognitive psychologist
- Harold Bloom, American literary critic
- Harold Craxton (1885–1971), British composer and pianist
- Harold Camping (born 1921), President of Family Radio
- Hal Daub (born 1941), American politician
- Harold Demsetz (born 1930), American economist
- Harold Diamond (1926-1982), American art dealer
- Harold Ely (1909–1983), American football player
- Harold Faltermeyer (born 1952), German musician
- Harold H. Fisher, (1901–2005), American church architect
- Harold Ford, Jr., U.S. Congressman, candidate for U.S. Senate
- Harold Frost (1921–2004), American orthopedist and surgeon
- Harold Goldsmith (1930–2004), American fencer
- Harold Hart (born 1952), American football player
- Hal Holbrook (born 1925), American actor
- Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister
- Harold Holt (impresario), South African-English impresario
- Harold Houser, American admiral and 35th Governor of American Samoa
- Harold A. Jerry, Jr. (1920–2001), New York politician
- Harold Keller (1921–1979), American Marine and Iwo Jima flag raiser
- Harold La Borde, Trinidadian circumnavigator
- Harold Landry (born 1996), American football player
- Hal Lindsey (born 1929), American evangelist and Christian writer
- Harold Lloyd, American film actor
- Harold C. Luther (1915–1973), New York politician
- Harold MacMichael (1882-1969), British Colonial administrator
- Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of Great Britain
- Harold McCartney, English rugby player
- Harold James Nicholson, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer and a twice-convicted spy for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)
- Harold Nicolson, British diplomat, author, diarist, and politician
- Harold Norse, American poet
- Harold I. Panken (1910–1999), New York state senator
- Harold Perrineau, American actor
- Harold Pinter (1930–2008), British playwright
- Harold Prince (born 1928), American theatrical producer and director
- Harold Ramis (1944–2014), American film actor, director, writer and producer.
- Harold S. Roise (1916–1991), American Marine officer, double Navy Cross recipient
- Harold G. Schrier (1916–1971), American Marine officer and Iwo Jima flag raiser
- Harold Schultz (1925–1995), American Marine and Iwo Jima flag raiser
- Harold Solomon (born 1952), American tennis player
- Hal Steinbrenner (born 1969), principal owner, managing general partner and co-chairman of the New York Yankees baseball franchise
- Harold Syrett (1913-1984), American executive editor of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, and president of Brooklyn College
- J. E. Harold Terry, English novelist, playwright, actor and critic
- Harold Tucker, Lord Mayor of Manchester, England, from 1984–1985
- Harold I. Tyler (1901–1967), New York assemblyman
- Harold R. Tyler, Jr. (1922–2005), federal judge in New York
- Harold Urey (1893–1981), American physical chemist
- Hal B. Wallis (1898–1986), American film producer
- Harold Walker (disambiguation), several people
- Harold Washington, first African-American mayor of Chicago
- Harold Weed, digital artist
- Harold E. Weeks, American politician
- Harold Wellman (1909–1999), New Zealand geologist
- Harold Wilson, British Prime Minister
- Harold G. Wren (1921-2016), American dean of three law schools
- Harold "Butch" Wynegar (born 1956), baseball player
- Harold Zent (1900–1951), member of the Washington House of Representatives
Fictional characters
- Childe Harold, from the Byron poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
- Harold Allnut, from the Batman comic series
- Harold Bishop, from the Australian soap Neighbours
- Harold Chasen, from the film Harold and Maude
- Harold Finch (Person of Interest), a main character from the television series Person of Interest
- Harold Green, Red Green's nephew on The Red Green Show
- Harold the Helicopter, from The Railway Series by W.V. Awdry and the television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
- Harold Lauder, from Stephen King's The Stand
- Harold and the Purple Crayon from the children's books by Crockett Johnson
- Harold Lee, from Harold & Kumar
- Harold Hutchins, a main character in Captain Underpants
- Harold McBride, a supporting character from the animated series The Loud House
- Harold, from the Teletoon animated series Total Drama
- Harold, from the Cartoon Network animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
- Harold Berman, from the Nickelodeon animated series Hey Arnold!
- Harold Buttowski, from the Disney XD animated series Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil
- Harold Foster, a multibillionaire Australian newspaper company chairman from Anthony Horowitz's Power of Five series
- Harold Saxon, an alias of The Master in Doctor Who
- Harold "Hal" Jordan, a fictional DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern
- Harold, from All Dogs Go to Heaven
- Hide the Pain Harold, a fictional identity in meme images based on photos of Hungarian engineer András Arató
- King Harold of Far Far Away, from the movies Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third
See also
References
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