Henry
Meaning of Henry
Henry is the English form of the French Henri, which comes from the Germanic name Haimirich. It is formed from heim, meaning home or household, and ric, meaning ruler or power. Standard name dictionaries therefore give the meaning as home ruler, ruler of the household, or ruler of the home.
It is pronounced HEN-ree, with the stress on the first syllable. American and British English pronounce it the same way. Henry is the name of eight kings of England, from Henry I to Henry VIII, and of the title character in Shakespeare's Henry V. Henry VIII is the best known of these monarchs; his reign saw the break with Rome and the establishment of the Church of England. Among modern bearers, Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, and Henry David Thoreau, the writer and naturalist, are widely known.
In the United States, Henry has long been common. After falling to 145th in 1994, it rose to 44th in 2012 and reached 5th in 2025, its highest rank, with 12,020 babies. It now stands among the five most popular boys' names in the country.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as HEN-ree (/ˈhɛn.ri//)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Henry
| Henry Ford was an American industrialist who founded Ford Motor Company, made cars affordable through mass production, and held a 1911 patent for the Model T transmission. |
| Henry David Thoreau was an American transcendentalist writer and naturalist best known for Walden and Civil Disobedience which advocate simple living and principled resistance to unjust government. |
| Henry Winkler is an American actor, producer, director, and author best known as Fonzie on Happy Days and acclaimed as a character actor, with three Emmys, two Golden Globes, and two Critics Choice Awards. |
| Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor - Henry V, last of the Salian dynasty, ruled as King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor after his father named him co-ruler in 1098. |
| Henry Lawrence Garfield, known as Henry Rollins, is an American performer who fronted Black Flag, founded 2.13.61, and led the Rollins Band. |
| Across five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood, Henry Fonda was an American actor celebrated for his everyman roles. |
| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a celebrated American poet and educator from New England, famed for Paul Reveres Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline, and the first American to translate Dantes Divine Comedy in full. |
| Henry Cavill - Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill is a British actor best known for playing Superman in the DC Extended Universe, starring in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League, with cameos in Black Adam and The Flash. |
| Henry Morgenthau Jr., US Treasury Secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt, led New Deal and World War II financing and influenced policy on Lend Lease, China, Jewish refugees, and postwar Germany. |
| Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who helped build Hoover Dam and wartime Liberty ships, founded Kaiser Permanente, launched major aluminum, steel, and auto companies, and later expanded into civic projects, real estate, and broadcasting. |
| Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist and art patron who founded a coke company, led Carnegie Steel with fierce anti union policies highlighted by the Homestead Strike, and helped found United States Steel. |
| Henry Ford II, known as Hank the Deuce, was an American auto executive who ran Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1980, took it public in 1956, and earlier led the Ford Foundation. |
