Hal

Diminutive of Harold or Henry, Scandinavian or German

"army ruler or estate ruler"

Hal Origin and Meaning

The name Hal is a boy's name of German, Scandinavian origin meaning "army ruler or estate ruler".

Could Hal be the Jack, Max, or Gus of the future? It just might happen in the new nickname environment. Hank Azaria put it on his son's birth certificate.

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, 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.

Hal Rank in US Top 1000

# 916 in the US

Hal Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 862 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Hal

• 862 Nameberry 2025

20 Names Similar to Hal

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Hal.

• Fitzgerald
• Morris
• Clive
• Murray
• Fritz
• Wendell
• Walt
• Rudy
• Truman
• Laurie
• Elmer
• Clancy
• Huey
• Sampson
• Bertie
• Paddy
• Des
• Willis
• Woodrow
• Shep

Famous People Named Hal

• 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

The name 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