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Updated August 7, 2024

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Boy name origins & meanings

  • Old German : Commander

How Popular Is The Name Harold

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : from the Old English personal name Hereweald, its Old Norse equivalent Haraldr, or the Continental form Herold introduced to Britain by the Normans. These all go back to a Germanic personal name composed of the elements heri, hari ‘army’ + wald ‘rule’, which is attested in Europe from an early date; the Roman historian Tacitus records a certain Cariovalda, chief of the Germanic tribe of the Batavi, as early as the 1st century ad.
  • English : occupational name for a herald, Middle English herau(l)d (Old French herau(l)t, from a Germanic compound of the same elements as above, used as a common noun).
  • German : from a personal name equivalent to 1.
  • Irish : this name is of direct Norse origin (see 1), but is also occasionally a variant of Harrell and Hurrell.

Famous people with this first name

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