# Howard (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/howard/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Norse |
| Meaning | “high”, “guard” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhaʊɚd/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Howie |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 348,342 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 346,666 / 1,676 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 508, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Medieval personal name from Middle English Howard, Howarde, from Old Norse Hávarðr, from hár (“high”) + varðr (“guard”). In some cases a variant of Heward, from Old French Huard.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 14 | 4,162 |
| 1973 | 17 | 3,687 |
| 1974 | 8 | 6,455 |
| 1975 | 15 | 4,222 |
| 1976 | 12 | 4,990 |
| 1977 | 13 | 5,030 |
| 1978 | 8 | 7,189 |
| 1979 | 7 | 8,343 |
| 1980 | 10 | 6,459 |
| 1981 | 6 | 9,507 |
| 1982 | 13 | 5,324 |
| 1984 | 9 | 7,002 |
| 1985 | 6 | 9,736 |
| 1986 | 6 | 9,977 |
| 1987 | 6 | 10,323 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 207 | 959 |
| 2012 | 203 | 986 |
| 2013 | 194 | 1,009 |
| 2014 | 211 | 987 |
| 2015 | 194 | 1,038 |
| 2016 | 241 | 901 |
| 2017 | 203 | 999 |
| 2018 | 213 | 976 |
| 2019 | 216 | 984 |
| 2020 | 194 | 1,044 |
| 2021 | 241 | 939 |
| 2022 | 208 | 1,057 |
| 2023 | 219 | 1,005 |
| 2024 | 207 | 1,059 |
| 2025 | 226 | 1,004 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 10 | 2,039 |
| 2012 | 21 | 1,229 |
| 2013 | 16 | 1,462 |
| 2014 | 11 | 1,935 |
| 2015 | 16 | 1,511 |
| 2016 | 13 | 1,804 |
| 2017 | 18 | 1,398 |
| 2018 | 17 | 1,455 |
| 2019 | 8 | 2,488 |
| 2020 | 10 | 2,076 |
| 2021 | 12 | 1,860 |
| 2022 | 11 | 2,018 |
| 2023 | 13 | 1,799 |
| 2024 | 12 | 1,951 |
| 2025 | 13 | 1,897 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: هُوَارْد
- Catalan: Hugard, Hugart
- Chinese: 霍華德 /霍华德
- Greek: Χάουαρντ
- Irish: Ní hÍomhair
- Japanese: ホワード, ハワード
- Korean: 하워드
- Latin: Hugardus
- Russian: Го́вард, Ха́уард, Хо́вард
- Georgian: ჰოვარდი
- Norwegian: Håvard
- Spanish: Hugardo

## People named Howard

- William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States from 1909 to 1913 (1857–1930)
- Howard Carter, British egyptologist (1874–1939)
- Howard Hughes, American aviator, engineer, industrialist, and film producer (1905–1976)
- John Howard Northrop, American biochemist (1891-1987)
- Howard Florey, Australian pathologist (1898-1968)
- Howard Zinn, American historian, playwright, and socialist thinker (1922–2010)
- Howard Hawks, American film director, producer and screenwriter (1896–1977)
- Howard Gardner, American developmental psychologist & academic
- William Howard Stein, American biochemist (1911–1980)
- Howard Shore, Canadian film score composer (born 1946)
- Howard Webb, English football referee
- Howard Temin, American geneticist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.