Harry
Top 1000
About Harry
Harry is the medieval English form of Henry, which derived from the Germanic name Heimrich, meaning "estate ruler." Harry was the nickname of all eight King Henrys; it is also a diminutive of Harold and Harrison.
Harry was everyone's elderly uncle until Princess Diana, following British royal tradition, named her son Henry but called him Harry. Then Harry Potter became a rage and Harry Styles of One Direction became the hottest boy bander of the new millennium. Thus, Harry's avuncular image was history. Harry is still much more popular in England, Ireland, and Scotland than it is in the US, but its classic yet unpretentious image makes it a recommended choice.
Harry was a Top 20 name in the US from 1880 to 1918, and continued in the Top 100 into the 1950s (hence the song "I'm Just Wild About Harry"), and has countless worthy namesakes, including Truman, Belafonte, and Houdini.
Among the celebs who have chosen this good guy name for their sons are David Letterman (it was his father's name), Simon Baker, and Billy Bob Thornton. It's also found in a number of movie titles from The Trouble with Harry to Dirty Harry to When Harry Met Sally.
Something to think about when using Harry: how does it sound in your accent? It might sound great, or it could sound a bit to hairy.
Pronounced HAR-ee.
As of October 2026, Harry ranked #775 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #8 in 1889, Nameberry popularity #201.
Editor's take: The name Harry is a boy's name of German, English origin meaning "estate ruler".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #716 | 337 | 175.4 |
| 2015 | #779 | 302 | 157.6 |
| 2016 | #677 | 377 | 198.7 |
| 2017 | #648 | 401 | 216.6 |
| 2018 | #623 | 428 | 235.7 |
| 2019 | #649 | 414 | 230.7 |
| 2020 | #718 | 345 | 199.9 |
| 2021 | #721 | 359 | 205.2 |
| 2022 | #695 | 381 | 218.2 |
| 2023 | #783 | 323 | 188.8 |
| 2024 | #777 | 322 | 186.9 |
| 2025 | #775 | 329 | 192.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Harry.
- George
- Louis
- Peter
- Charles
- Edward
- Charlie
- Thomas
- Simon
- Patrick
- Jack
- Philip
- Lewis
- John
- Max
- Samuel
- Frederick
- Maxwell
- Calvin
- William
- Joseph
Harry on lists
Famous Harrys
- Harry Alan Towers
English film producer
- Harry S. Truman
33rd U.S. President
- Harold Andrew "Harry" Blackmun
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz)
Hungarian,American escape artist
- Harry Mason Reid
U.S. Senator from Nevada
- Prince Harry (née Henry Charles Albert David)
Duke of Sussex, a member of the British royal family
- Harry Lewis
YouTube personality known as Wroetoshaw
- Harry Edward Styles
English singer, songwriter and actor
- Harry Frederick Harlow
American psychologist
- (Joseph) Harry Connick Jr.
American singer and actor
- Harold George "Harry" Belafonte
American singer, actor and activist
- Harry Robinson Hamlin
American actor
- Harry Laverne Anderson
American actor
- Harry Truman Reasoner
American TV journalist
- Harry Albert Atkinson
10th Premier of New Zealand
- Harry Foster Chapin
American singer,songwriter
- Harry Edward Nilsson
American singer,songwriter
- Harry Mark Christopher Judd
drummer of British band McFly
- Harry Douglas
American NFL football player
- Hubert August "Harry" Piel
German actor, screenwriter, and film director
- Harry Fleetwood Andrews
English actor
- Harry Mondryk
English singer
- Harry Lawrence Newman
American NFL football player
- Harry John Treadway
English actor
- Harry Fielding Reid
American geophysicist
- Harry Morgan
American actor
- Harry Neal Baum
American author
- Harry Bache Smith
American songwriter
- Harry Edson Browne
American investment analyst, author and politician
- Henry George "Harry" Chauvel
Australian WWI general
- George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott
Australian cricketer
- Harry Danning
American baseball player
- Harry Surtees Altham
English cricketer
- Harry Lloyd
English actor
- Harry Gordon Selfridge Sr.
British retail magnate
- Harry Broad
New Zealand author
- Harry Shum Jr.
Costa Rican,American actor, dancer, singer, and choreographer
- Harry James Thornton
son of actor Billy Bob Thornton and model Pietra Dawn Cherniak
- Harry Letterman
son of American comedian and TV personality David Letterman
- Harry Friday Baker
son of actors Simon Baker and Rebecca Rigg
Harry in pop culture
- Harry James Potter
main character in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series
- Harry Osborn
friend of Peter Parker/Spiderman in Marvel's "Spiderman"
- Dirty Harry Callahan
main character in the "Dirty Harry" movies
- Harry Burns
main character in film "When Harry Met Sally"
- Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch
main character in novels by Michael Connelly and TV's "Bosch"
- Harry Fisher
character on TV's "Waterloo Road"
- Harry Coleman
character in 2003 movie "Freaky Friday"
- Harry Bailey
George's younger brother in movie "It's a Wonderful Life"
- Harry Haller
main character in Hermann Hesse's "Steppenwolf"
- Harry Pearce
character on TV's "Spooks"
- Harry Paget Flashman
main character in the "Flashman" series by George MacDonald Fraser
- Harry Prendergast
main character in G. A. Henty's "The Treasure of the Incas"
- Harry
character on TV's "7th Heaven"
- Harry Crane
character on TV's "Mad Men"
- Harry Mason
character in the "Silent Hill" video game series
- Harry Solomon
character on TV's "3rd Rock from the Sun"
- Harry Dresden
main character in "The Dresden Files" series by Jim Butcher
- Horrible Harry
children's book series by Suzy Kline
- Harry Furness
main character in G. A. Henty's "Friends Though Divided"
- Harry Dunne
main character in movie "Dumb and Dumber"
- Harry "Opie" Winston
character on TV's "Sons of Anarchy"
- Harry Lime
robber in the "Home Alone" movies
- Henry "Harry" Sandwith
main character in G. A. Henty's "In the Reign of Terror"
- Harry Carrington
character in "Elsie Dinsmore" series
- Henry "Harry" Wotton
character in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
- Harry "Galahad" Hart
character from "Kingsman: The Secret Service"
- Harry S. Truman
character in "Twin Peaks"
- Harry
a character in "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," by Carrie Ryan
- Harry
main character in short story "The Black Mamba" by author Liam Holt
- Harrison "Harry" Wells
character from TV's "The Flash"
- Harry Doyle
character in ABC's "Quantico"
- Bad Hat Harry
a production company
- Harry Sullivan
a companion on TV’s "Doctor Who"
- Harry Bright
character in the "Mamma Mia!" musical and films
- Harry Hunter
character in the 1962 film "The Phantom of the Opera"
- Harry Greenwood
character on "Charmed" reboot
- Harrier "Harry" Du Bois
character in the video game "Disco Elysium"
- Harry Grant
Character on ABC's "9-1-1"
- "Goody Blake and Harry Gill"
A ballad in William Wordsworth's collection of poems, "Lyrical Ballads"
- harry potter
character from the very potter musical trilogy