North

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Nord in DE Germany, LB Lebanon, FR France and 5 more.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 15 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◐

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

• French surname4.2K records spelled North15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Canada, United States, Togo

  Also written Nord, Nôrd, Ńörd, Nörd, Nõrd

• Hindi name1.6K records spelled North3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Pakistan

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Ñorth

• Arabic surname1.5K records spelled North4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sudan, Morocco, Egypt, Malta

  Languages: Arabic, Maltese

  Also written Orth, Ñörth

• Polish name994 records spelled North13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United Kingdom, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Czechia

  Languages: Polish, Serbian, Macedonian

  Also written Nort, Норт

51 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●

North 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, man from the north, or dweller to the north; first attested Aylmar del North 1230 P (Sf)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, topographic name, from Middle English north ‘north’, for someone who lived in the northern part of a village or to the north of a main settlement (compare Norrington 1), or a regional name for someone who had migrated from the north. Compare Norris

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, from a short form of a Germanic personal name composed with a cognate of Old High German nord ‘north’.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, 2. Irish: regional name for someone from Ulster, the northern area of Ireland, in part as an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Ultalgh (see McNulty) or (in Westmeath) of Ultach.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

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) — 34 years between 1885–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Frederick North, Lord Northb. 1732GBPrime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782
• Marianne Northb. 1831GBEnglish philanthropist, painter, biologist and botanical artist (1830-1890)
• Alfred North Whiteheadb. 1861GBEnglish mathematician and philosopher (1861–1947)
• Alex Northb. 1910USAmerican composer (1910–1991)
• Edmund H. Northb. 1911USAmerican screenwriter (1911-1990)
• Douglass Northb. 1920USAmerican economist and Nobel laureate (1920–2015)
• Alan Northb. 1920USAmerican actor (1920–2000)
• Sheree Northb. 1932USAmerican actress, dancer, and singer (1932-2005)
• Nolan Northb. 1970USAmerican voice actor (born 1970)
• North Westb. 2013USAmerican singer, rapper, actress and producer

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 · 107 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name North?

We estimate roughly 814 people bear North (counting its spellings and scripts) across 4 countries in our records.

In which country does North have the most bearers?

North is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled north.

What does the name North mean?

Recorded meaning: person who lives north of a settlement or in its northern part; immigrant from the north; or person from Ulster.