Henry

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Henri in FR France, BR Brazil, BE Belgium and 5 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 17 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Henry is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name392K records spelled Henry45 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, Philippines

  Languages: French, Spanish, Catalan

  Also written Enric, Hēnrÿ, Heñry, Hénry, Heñrÿ

• a separate given name159K records spelled Henry3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Ecuador

  Also written Henrÿ

• Danish given name88K records spelled Henry63 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden

  Languages: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Henrik, เฮนริค, เฮนริก, Henri-K, เฮ็นริค

• Indonesian given name44K records spelled Henry6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written 'Henry, Hénry, Hęņŕý

109 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Henry is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Germanic ‘home ruler’; introduced by the English, with Irish forms Anrai, Annraoi, Einri, Hanraoi; Henry Joy McCracken was an Ulster rebel.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, OFr Henri, OG Haimric, Henric ‘home-rule’; first attested Henricus 1066 DB.

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, From Henry/Harry, with Welsh ap/ab forms; earliest cited 1292 in B13.218: Henry ab Helidir.

  as a name·Welsh Surnames

• In French, Surname kept in old spelling, distinguished from the given name Henri.

  as a name·Tên Họ Người Việt Nam

• In English, from Henry; earliest citation 1681 Humphrey ap Harris

  as a name·Welsh Surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Henry Ib. 1068GBKing of England from 1100 to 1135 (1068–1135)
• Henry IIb. 1133FRKing of England from 1154 to 1189
• William IVb. 1765GBnot in their usual nameKing of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 1830 to 1837
• William Henry Harrisonb. 1773USpresident of the United States in 1841 (1773-1841)
• Henry Dunantb. 1828CHSwiss businessman and co-founder of the Red Cross (1828-1910)
• Henry Draperb. 1837USAmerican physician and astronomer (1837–1882)
• Henry Louis Le Chatelierb. 1850FRFrench chemist (1850–1936)
• Groucho Marxb. 1890USnot in their usual nameAmerican comedian (1890–1977)
• Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucesterb. 1900GBBritish soldier (1900–1974), Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947
• Graham Greeneb. 1904GBnot in their usual nameBritish writer, playwright and literary critic (1904–1991)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,978 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Henry?

We estimate roughly 889 thousand people bear Henry (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Henry have the most bearers?

We estimate about 407 thousand people bear Henry in France, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled henri.

How common is Henry compared with other names?

In France, Henry is the 45th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Henry a male or female name?

Henry is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Henry mean?

Recorded meaning: from the male personal name Henry, of Germanic origin meaning ‘home-rule’; also from Irish Gaelic Ó hInneirghe, a name meaning literally ‘abandonment’ or ‘elopement’