Hal
About Hal
Could Hal be the Jack, Max, or Gus of the future? It just might happen in the new nickname environment, especially with Cal and Cy feeling cool, and with the interest in vintage, cowboy-esque choices, considering Hal ranked in the US Top 1000 in the first half of the 20th century.
Hal is a venerable nickname for Henry, Harry and Harold, famously used by Shakespeare in King Henry IV as the name of the king's son, the future Henry V, A number of show biz figures of a certain era have gone by the name too, including Hals Roach, Wallis, Ashby, Holbrook, David and Linden. In the eponymous film, Jack Black played "Shallow Hal."
As for the bad-guy machine in "2001: A Space Odyssey," that HAL stood for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer.
Actor Hank Azaria put it on his son's birth certificate back in 2009, well-ahead of trend, while a recent year saw it given to around 30 babies: double the number it was being given to back in the 2010s.
Pronounced HAL.
As of October 2026, Hal ranked #3151 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #305 in 1956, Nameberry popularity #839.
Editor's take: The name Hal is a boy's name of German, English, Scandinavian origin meaning "army ruler or estate ruler".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #4,437 | 22 | 11.5 |
| 2015 | #4,776 | 20 | 10.4 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | #3,642 | 30 | 16.5 |
| 2019 | #4,686 | 21 | 11.7 |
| 2020 | #3,361 | 33 | 19.1 |
| 2021 | #3,678 | 30 | 17.1 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | #3,018 | 41 | 24 |
| 2024 | #3,471 | 33 | 19.2 |
| 2025 | #3,151 | 38 | 22.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Hal.
- Morris
- Fitzgerald
- Clive
- Murray
- Rudy
- Fritz
- Truman
- Phinneas
- Wallace
- Walt
- Wendell
- Sampson
- Guy
- Floyd
- Elmer
- Lou
- Seymour
- Ned
- Clifford
- Bertie
Hal on lists
Famous Hals
- Harriet Rebecca "Hal" Lane Johnston
acting first lady for her uncle James Buchanan
- Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach
American film producer, director, actor
- Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook
American actor
- Harold John "Hal" Smith
American actor and voice actor
- Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz)
American actor
- Harry Magee "Hal" Sparks III
American actor/comedian
- Harold Dallas "Hal" Rogers
U.S. Congressman from Kentucky
- Harold Smith "Hal" Prince
American theatre producer
- (William) Hal Ashby
American film director
- Harold John "Hal" Daub Jr.
U.S. Congressman from Nebraska
- Hal Willis (born Leonald Francis Gauthier)
Canadian country music singer
- Prince Hal
early nickname of King Henry V of England
- Thomas Henry Alex "Hal" Robson
Kanu, Welsh footballer
- Hal Azaria
son of actor Hank Azaria and Katie Wright
- Hal Auden Cumberbatch (b. 2017)
son of actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter
Hal in pop culture
- Hal Mikkelson
character in the Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan
- Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern
superhero
- Hal Mason
character on TV's "Falling Skies"
- Hal
dad on TV's "Malcolm in the Middle"
- HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer)
evil computer in book/film "2001: A Space Odyssey,"
- Hal Willis
police detective of the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain
- Hal Tucker
character in movie "Cliffhanger"
- Electronic Person HAL
a villain in the manga and anime "Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro"
- Hal Stewart
character in the movie "Megamind"
- Hal Cooper
wife to Alice Cooper and father to Polly and Betty Cooper on the CW show Riverdale and the Archie Comics universe.
- Hal Larson
main character in the 2001 romantic,comedy movie "Shallow Hal" played by Jack Black
- Hal Auden Cumberbatch
youngest child of actor Benedict Cumberbatch and director Sophie Hunter