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 [ 2 syll. ho-war(d), how-a-rd ] The boy name Howard is pronounced HHAWerD KEY. Howard is of Old Norse origin and it is used mainly in English. The first name is from an English noble surname which is itself of uncertain origin. The surname could be from Haward (Old Norse) containing the elements ha ('horse, high') and ward ('warden, guard'), suggesting a derivation from the job title of a warden. It could also be from Huguard (Germanic), itself from hugu ('heart, mind, spirit') and vardu ('protection'). Another derivation suggests an origin from the Old French Houard meaning 'he who works with a hoe'. Irrespective of the actual origin, the surname was borne by the dukes of Norfolk since the 13th century. The first name was adopted by English speakers from the start of the 19th century. A variant form of Howard is the Hawaiian Haoa. The pet forms Howie (English) and Ward (English) are other variants of the name. Howard is an all-time favorite. At present it is still somewhat popular as a baby name for boys, though to a lesser extent than it was before. At the peak of its usage in 1912, 0.711% of baby boys were named Howard. Its ranking then was #25. The baby name has since markedly dropped in popularity, and is of only occasional use today. In 2008, it ranked at #903 with a usage of 0.011%, but it was nevertheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. Howard has predominantly been a boy name, although in the past century it has also been used for girls. Boys named Howard outnumbered girls by 121 times in 1928. Baby names that sound like Howard include the English Hardee, the English Hardey, the English and German Hardi, the English Hardie, the English and German Hardy, the English Hayward, the English Heyward, the Arabic Harith, the English Hart, the English Harte, the Spanish Herrado, and the Arabic Harithah. Details of famous persons named Howard: KEY: Pronunciation for Howard: HH as in "he (HH.IY)" ; AW as in "cow (K.AW)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)"   |
