Harold

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Harold: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Harold: Recorded since 1952, with a gap of 10 years, its highest recorded position is #88, and it stood at #1,025 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
60times a registrar ranked it
73years from first to last
#88highest recorded position
11groupings it qualifies for

What stands out in Harold's record

Absent from every published list for 10 years inside its own recorded period, then ranked again. Names by longest absence

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#394
1997	#513
1998	#526
1999	#596
2000	#579
2001	#842
2002	#950
2003	#1092
2004	#999
2005	#954
2006	#885
2007	#1169
2008	#964
2009	#1008
2010	#1241
2011	#1158
2012	#1367
2013	#1617
2014	#1223
2015	#1327
2016	#1123
2017	#906
2018	#1158
2019	#1083
2020	#1051
2021	#1782
2022	#1104
2023	#1533
2024	#1025

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Republic of Ireland in 29 of the 50 years from 1964 to 2013.

In 2013: #711 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #1617 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1952–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1952
First recorded at #88 among boys in New South Wales, Australia in 1952 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
New South Wales, Australia · Boys
Highest recorded1952–1953
Highest recorded position: #88 among boys in New South Wales, Australia, in 1952 (recorded 1952–1953).
New South Wales, Australia · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1025 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Harold appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, with 29 ranked years and 161 births registered; the earliest is New South Wales, Australia · Boys, from 1952.

Harold across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Harold's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#147 (1964)	#135 (1965)	#711 (2013)	29 of 50	161 (1964–2013)	15 (1965)
England and Wales · Boys	#394 (1996)	#394 (1996)	#1025 (2024)	29 of 29	715 (1996–2024)	54 (1996)
New South Wales, Australia · Boys	#88 (1952)	#88 (1952)	#99 (1953)	2 of 2	120 (1952–1953)	66 (1952)

Harold by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Harold in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	156	4 of 10	39
2000sbusiest	229	10 of 10	23
2010s	221	10 of 10	22
2020s	109	5 of 10	22

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 23 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Harold appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1952 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #88 in New South Wales, Australia in 1952.

Harold's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#1025	29	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1533	16	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1104	25	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1782	13	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1051	26	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1083	25	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1158	23	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#906	34	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1123	25	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1327	19	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1223	21	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1617	14	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1367	18	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1158	22	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1241	20	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1008	26	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#964	27	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1169	20	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#885	27	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#954	23	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#999	20	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1092	16	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#950	18	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#842	20	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#579	32	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#596	30	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#526	36	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#513	36	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#394	54	High	Verified
1953	New South Wales, Australia	male	#99	54	Insufficient	Not yet available
1952	New South Wales, Australia	male	#88	66	Insufficient	Not yet available
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#711	3	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	male	#718	3	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#604	4	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	male	#518	3	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#439	4	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	male	#409	3	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	male	#390	3	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	male	#379	3	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	male	#382	3	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	male	#369	3	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	male	#235	7	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	male	#278	4	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	male	#304	3	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#264	5	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#324	3	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#255	5	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	male	#273	5	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#288	4	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#290	4	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#288	4	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	male	#254	6	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	male	#194	11	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	male	#217	8	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#178	12	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	male	#206	8	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#177	9	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#222	5	High	Verified
1965	Republic of Ireland	male	#135	15	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	male	#147	11	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
New South Wales, Australia hub — collected by NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1952 and 2024, ranked in 50 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #88, first reached in 1952.

It held a top-100 place in 2 years, 2 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 66 births, registered in New South Wales, Australia in 1952.

Its record falls into 7 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 10 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1964, and 44 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Harneet · #1965, 23y
Harnoor · #1449, 17y
Haron · #2544, 18y
Haroon · #298, 30y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Naoise · #88, 50y
Howard · #90, 53y
Marlene · #91, 54y
Reginald · #85, 48y

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1950 and 1959.

Alistair · #87, 51y
Jeffery · #87, 42y
Kaye · #89, 20y
Cornelia · #90, 63y

Harold was ranked #88 in New South Wales, Australia · Boys in 1952. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Harold and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Harold without appearing here.

Harold moved ahead of

Graham Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1533 and #1533 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1025 and #5119.
Gary Compare
In 2021 they stood at #1782 and #1329 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #1104 and #2018.
Jon Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1533 and #1407 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1025 and #1758.
Keith Compare
In 2013 they stood at #1617 and #1539 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2014 that had become #1223 and #1935.

Moved ahead of Harold

Emil Compare
In 2006 they stood at #885 and #914 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #1169 and #664.
Ronald Compare
In 2006 they stood at #885 and #960 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #1169 and #698.
Beau Compare
In 2000 they stood at #579 and #817 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #842 and #452.
Tadhg Compare
In 2017 they stood at #906 and #943 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2018 that had become #1158 and #786.

Moved the opposite way to Harold

Alexander Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 while Alexander went from #116 to #39.
Benjamin Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 while Benjamin went from #139 to #68.
Conor Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 while Conor went from #56 to #4.
Daniel Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 while Daniel went from #19 to #3.

Moved the same way as Harold

Adrian Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 and Adrian from #65 to #161.
Alfred Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 and Alfred from #134 to #383.
Denis Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 and Denis from #21 to #161.
Edward Compare
Between 1964 and 2013 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Harold went from #147 to #711 and Edward from #18 to #96.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1952 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #88 in New South Wales, Australia in 1952. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Harold

Harold at a glance

What stands out in Harold's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Harold across 3 official records

Harold by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Harold appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Harold

Harold and the names beside it

Harold moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Harold

Moved the opposite way to Harold

Moved the same way as Harold

Harold at a glance

What stands out in Harold's record

Harold across 3 official records

Harold by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Harold appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Harold

Harold and the names beside it

Harold moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Harold

Moved the opposite way to Harold

Moved the same way as Harold