Meaning and history
Harold comes from the Old English name Hereweald, formed from here meaning “army” and weald meaning “powerful, mighty.” Its Old Norse cognate Haraldr was also widespread among Scandinavian settlers in England, and the name was borne by five kings of Norway and three kings of Denmark, as well as two English kings of mixed Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon descent, including Harold II, who was killed at the Battle of Hastings and whose defeat led to the Norman Conquest. The name then fell out of use after the conquest but was revived in the 19th century.
20062006: 356 births, rank #650
2007: 350 births, rank #680
2008: 312 births, rank #733
2009: 266 births, rank #825
2010: 305 births, rank #744
20112011: 256 births, rank #841
2012: 261 births, rank #836
2013: 234 births, rank #889
2014: 272 births, rank #829
2015: 283 births, rank #808
20162016: 288 births, rank #802
2017: 286 births, rank #798
2018: 284 births, rank #796
2019: 279 births, rank #815
2020: 238 births, rank #932
20212021: 236 births, rank #954
2022: 250 births, rank #923
2023: 253 births, rank #914
2024: 227 births, rank #988
20252025: 230 births, rank #991
Harold moved from #989 to #993 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1924, with 14,149 births.