Howard
Meaning of Howard
Howard is an Anglo-Norman import that ultimately reaches back to the Old Norse name Hávarðr—composed of the elements hár (“high”) and varðr (“guardian”)—so its literal sense is “high guardian” or, more colloquially, “chief protector.” After crossing the channel with the Normans, it mingled with identical-sounding Middle English words and, over time, settled into the succinct two-syllable form pronounced HOW-ərd. The name enjoyed real clout in early-20th-century America—buoyed by the prominent Howard family of English nobility, the daring industrialist Howard Hughes, and Egyptologist Howard Carter—before beginning a long, steady slide down the U.S. charts; today it hovers respectably in the 700s, proving hard to dislodge entirely. Modern pop culture keeps it in modest circulation through characters like Howard Wolowitz of “The Big Bang Theory” and Marvel’s Howard Stark, while Howard University preserves its scholarly sheen. All told, the name carries an understated, almost tweed-jacketed dignity—no longer a roaring fashion choice, yet still quietly reliable for parents who prefer a solid classic to a passing headline.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as HOW-erd (/ˈhaʊd/)
British English
- Pronunced as HOW-uhd (/ˈhaʊd/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Howard
| Howard Hughes was a wealthy American aviator, film producer, and business magnate who became famous for his reclusive, eccentric later years. |
| Howard Florey was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin. |
| Howard Zinn was an American historian and professor best known for his influential bestseller A People's History of the United States. |
| Howard Schultz is an American businessman and author best known for building Starbucks into a global coffee giant during three separate stints as its CEO. |
| Howard Hawks was a classic Hollywood director, producer and screenwriter whose versatile, genre-spanning films earned him an Oscar nomination for Sergeant York and an Honorary Academy Award in 1974. |
| Howard Dean is an American physician and politician who served as governor of Vermont, ran for president in 2004, and later chaired the Democratic National Committee. |
| Howard Hanson was an American composer and educator who led the Eastman School of Music for forty years and won a Pulitzer Prize for his Fourth Symphony. |
| Howard Chaykin is an American comic book artist and writer who spent five decades creating characters for publishers like DC and Marvel. |
| Howard Marks was a Welsh author and notorious international cannabis smuggler. |
| Howard Carter was a British Egyptologist famous for discovering the remarkably preserved tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. |
| Howard Baskerville was an American missionary teacher in Tabriz who gave his life defending the city during Iran's Constitutional Revolution, earning him the title of the American Lafayette of Iran. |
| Howard Shore is a Canadian composer best known for scoring The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, along with nearly every David Cronenberg film. |
| Howard Schnellenberger was an American football coach who led the Baltimore Colts and four college programs, winning a national title with Miami in 1983. |
| Howard Baker was a Tennessee Republican who served in the Senate from 1967 to 1985 and rose to become both minority and majority leader. |
