NorseNorwegian2 syllables
Meaning: army ruler; commander of the host.
Harald
| Origin | Old Norse — Haraldr, from Germanic *harja-waldaz; the English Harold is the same name |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Army ruler, from herr (army, host) + valdr (ruler) |
| Pronunciation | HAH-rald in Norwegian and Danish, the final d clearly sounded; HARR-uld in English mouths |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 and rare in America. A live, ordinary name in Norway and Denmark, though commoner on grandfathers than on newborns |
| Variants | Harold (English), Haraldur (Icelandic), Hereweald (Old English), Harald (German) |
| Nicknames | Harry and Hal in English use; Norwegian speakers generally keep it whole |
| On the throne | Harald V has been King of Norway since January 1991 |
History & meaning
Two words, both about command. Herr is the army or host, valdr is the one who rules it, and the compound turns up wherever Germanic was spoken: Haraldr in Norse, Hereweald in Old English, Harald in German. English shed the middle of it and produced Harold, which is why the year 1066 contains the same name twice. Harold Godwinson marched north, destroyed the invading army of Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge on 25 September, and was dead at Hastings nineteen days later. The Norwegian claimant's death is often taken as the closing date of the Viking Age.
Two earlier Haralds matter more to the north itself. Harald Fairhair is remembered as the king who first pulled Norway into one kingdom after a sea battle at Hafrsfjord, conventionally dated to 872, though the account reaches us through sagas composed three centuries later and historians handle the details carefully. Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, converted the Danes and raised the great runestone at Jelling that says so. His byname had an unexpected second career: the wireless standard is named after him, on the notion of uniting devices as he united Danes, and its logo is a bind-rune of the letters H and B.
Why parents choose it
It is a working royal name rather than a museum piece, which is rarer than it sounds. English speakers hear it against Harold, a name that spent the twentieth century sounding like a filing clerk, and the small gap between the two spellings is doing most of the work: Harald keeps the Nordic weight that Harold quietly lost.
Middle names for Harald
The name is already stately, so the middle can be plain: Harald Emil, Harald Nikolai, Harald Vincent, Harald James. The middle names guide sets out how to balance a long first name.
Famous Haralds
Harald V of Norway, born in 1937, has reigned since 1991 and sailed for Norway at three Olympic Games in the 1960s and 1970s. Harald Hardrada spent years in the Varangian Guard at Constantinople before taking the Norwegian throne and dying in Yorkshire. Harald zur Hausen shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for linking human papillomaviruses to cervical cancer.
Consider instead
Hakon is the other name in current Norwegian royal use and shares the same lineage of kings. Erik gives you the Nordic north in two easy syllables that no American will misread. Magnus carries similar authority and a Latin meaning, "great", that explains itself.