Howard is an
English-language
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
originating from Old French
Huard (or
Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probably in some cases a confusion with the Old Norse cognate ''Haward'' (''Hávarðr''), which means "high guard" and as a surname also with the unrelated Hayward. In some rare cases it is from the Old English ''eowu hierde'' "ewe herd". In
Anglo-Norman the French digram ''-ou-'' was often rendered as ''-ow-'' such as ''tour'' → ''tower'', ''flour'' (western variant form of ''fleur'') → ''flower'', etc. (with
svarabakhti). A diminutive is "Howie" and its shortened form is "Ward" (most common in the 19th century). Between 1900 and 1960, Howard ranked in the U.S. Top 200; between 1960 and 1990, it ranked in the U.S. Top 400; between 1990 and 2004, it ranked in the U.S. Top 600.
People with the given name Howard or its variants include:
Given name
*
Howard Allen (1949–2020), American serial killer
* Howard
Duane Allman (1946–1971), American guitar virtuoso
*
Howard Anderson (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Andrew (1934–2021), American poker player
*
Howard Ashman (1950–1991), American lyricist known for ''Little Shop of Horrors'', ''The Little Mermaid'' and ''Beauty and the Beast''
*
Howard Baker (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Burnett (athlete)
Howard McNeal Burnett (born 8 March 1961) is a retired male sprinter from Jamaica, who mainly competed in the men's 400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the ...
(born 1961), Jamaican track and field athlete
*
Howard J. Burnett (1929–2019), American president of Washington & Jefferson College
*
Howard Carpendale (born 1946), German singer
*
Howard Carter (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Cosell (1918–1995), sports broadcaster
* Howard
Ward Cunningham (born 1949), American founder of WikiWikiWeb
*
Howard David, American sportscaster
*
Howard Davies (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Davis (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Dean (born 1948), American politician
*
Howard Donald (born 1968), English singer
*
Howard Devoto
Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After M ...
(born Howard Trafford, 1952), English singer-songwriter
*
Howard Duff
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
(1913–1990), American actor
*
Howard Eastman (born 1970), Guyanese-British boxer
*
Howard Ehmke (1894–1959), American baseball pitcher
*
Howard Eisenberg (born 1926), American author and journalist
*
Howard Eisley (born 1972), American basketball player and coach
*
Howard Engel (1931–2019), Canadian mystery writer
*
Howard Eskin (born 1951), American sports radio personality
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Howard Evans (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Goodall
Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...
(born 1958), British musician, musicologist and TV presenter
*
Howard Grant (boxer) (born 1966), Jamaican-Canadian boxer
*
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name."
A v ...
(1896–1977), American producer
*
Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman (February 27, 1940 – January 29, 2022) was an American actor known for his television roles as burned-out disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'', and the lead role of history teacher Charlie Moore on ''Head of ...
(1940–2022), American actor
*
Howard A. Howe (1901–1976), American virologist
*
Howard Hughes (1905–1976), American aviation pioneer and film mogul
*
Howard Jacobson (born 1942), British novelist and journalist
*
Howard Johnson (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Jones (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Judd (1935–2007), American physician and medical researcher
*
Howard Keel (1919–2004), singer and actor born Harry Keel
*
Howard Kendall, English football player and manager
*
Howard Andrew Knox (1885–1949), American physician
*
Howard Lassoff (1955–2013), American-Israeli basketball player
*
Howard Lederer (born 1964), professional poker player
*
Howard Lesnick (1931–2020), American, Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
*
Howard Long (1905–1939), American convicted murderer
*
H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), American writer (full name Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
*
Howard McNear
Howard Terbell McNear (January 27, 1905 – January 3, 1969) was an American stage, screen, and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as the original voice of Doc Adams in the radio version of ''Gunsmoke'' and as Floyd Lawson, the ba ...
(1905–1969), American radio and television actor
*
Howard Marks (1945–2016), teacher, drug smuggler and author
*
Howard Matthews (1885–1963), English footballer
*
Howard W. Mattson (1927–1998), American chemist and journalist
*
Howard T. Odum (1924–2002), American ecologist
* Howard Allen O'Brien, birth name of American writer
Anne Rice
*
Howard Payne (athlete)
Andrew 'Howard' Payne (17 April 1931 – 1 March 1992) was an English Olympic Games, Olympic track and field athlete. He specialised in the hammer throw event during his career.
Biography
Born in Benoni, Gauteng (South Africa), Payne represented ...
(1931–1992), English hammer thrower
*
Howard Schatz, American fine art photographer
*
Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...
(born 1946), Canadian composer
*
Howard Smith (disambiguation) Howard Smith may refer to:
Companies
* Howard Smith Limited, former Australian industrial company
Government and politics
* Howard Alexander Smith (1880–1966), U.S. Senator from New Jersey
* Howard E. Smith (Minnesota politician) (1917–2 ...
, name of several people
*
Howard Smothers
Howard Smothers (born November 16, 1973) is a former American football offensive lineman who played three seasons in the Arena Football League with the Orlando Predators and Buffalo Destroyers. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seve ...
(born 1973), American football player
*
Howard Spira, American gambler who was paid by George Steinbrenner to find dirt on baseball player Dave Winfield
*
Howard Stableford (born 1959), British television and radio presenter
*
Howard Staunton (1810–1874), British chess player and Shakespearean scholar
*
Howard Stern (born 1954), American talk-radio host
*
Howard K. Stern (born 1968), attorney for Anna Nicole Smith
*
Howard Stidham (born 1954), American football player
*
Howard Stupp
Howard Michael Stupp (born 3 May 1955) is a Canadian former wrestler. An Olympian, he won five Canadian championships (1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981), two Pan Am Games titles (1975, 1979), two Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union championsh ...
(born 1955), Canadian Olympic wrestler
*
Howard Tayler (born 1968), American cartoonist
*
Howard Turner (1897–1976), American football player
*
Howard Unruh (1921–2009), American spree killer
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Howard Wales (1943–2020), American musician
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Howard Walker (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Walter (1883–1918), American Congregationalist minister and hymnist
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Howard Watt (1911–2005), South African rugby union player
*
Howard Watts III (born 1987), American politician
*
Howard Wilkinson (born 1943), English football manager
*
Howard Williams (disambiguation), name of several people
*
Howard Wilson (born 1995), American football player
*
Howard Wilson (physicist), British physicist
*
Howard Zinn (1922–2010), American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist
Howie
*
Howie B (born 1963), Scottish musician and producer Howard Bernstein
*
Howie Carr (born 1952), American journalist
*
Howie Day (born 1981), American singer-songwriter
*
Howie Dorough (born 1973), American musician with Backstreet Boys
*
Howie Epstein (1955–2003), American musician
* Howie Gordon (later known as
Richard Pacheco), American pornographic actor
*
Howie Hawkins, American politician and activist
*
Howie Long (born 1960), American former football player and actor
*
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. I ...
(born 1955), Canadian comedian and actor, host of the TV show ''Deal or No Deal''
*
Howie Meeker
Howard William Meeker (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian professional hockey player in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey, and a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He became best ...
(1923–2020), Canadian hockey player, TV sports announcer, Member of Parliament
*
Howie Morenz (1902–1937), Canadian ice hockey player
*
Howie Nave (born 1956), American comedian, radio personality, writer, promoter and movie critic
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Howie Rose (born 1954), American sportscaster
*
Howie Severino (born 1961), Filipino broadcast journalist
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Howie Winter (1929–2020), American mobster
Fictional characters
*
Howard Bellamy (Doctors)
Howard Bellamy is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', portrayed by Ian Kelsey. Howard first appeared on 28 May 2012, where he is introduced as the practice manager of the fictional Mill Health Centre. Kelsey was cast i ...
, in the British soap opera ''Doctors''
* Howard Clifford, a fictional villain in the ''
Detective Pikachu Detective Pikachu may refer to:
* ''Detective Pikachu'' (video game), a video game for the Nintendo 3DS
**''Detective Pikachu Returns'', sequel of ''Detective Pikachu'' for the Nintendo Switch
* ''Detective Pikachu'' (film), a 2019 fantasy film ...
'' movie
*
Howard Cunningham (Happy Days), in the ''Happy Days'' TV series
*
Howard Hamlin, a fictional character on the AMC television series ''Better Call Saul''
*
Howard Huge, a comic strip dog
* Howard Hunter, in the TV series ''
Hill Street Blues'', played by James B. Sikking
* Howard Langston, in the 1996 film ''
Jingle All the Way''
*
Howard McBride, in the animated series ''The Loud House''
* Howard McGreggor, in the TV series ''
Fresh Meat (TV series)''
*
Howard Moon, in the TV series ''The Mighty Boosh'', portrayed by Julian Barratt
*
Howard Roark, protagonist of Ayn Rand's novel ''The Fountainhead''
*
Howard Stark, father of Iron Man Tony Stark
*
Howard Wolowitz, a fictional character on the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'', portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.
*
Howard the Duck, a comic book character
* Howard Link, a "Crow" and Inspector for the Black Order in the
D. Gray Man
''D.Gray-man'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. Set in an alternate 19th century, it tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order. They use an an ...
Anime/Manga
* Howard Marner, a fictional character from
Short Circuit (1986 film)
* Howard Silk, main character and agent in the TV series ''
Counterpart (TV series)''
* Howard DeVille, in the animated series ''
Rugrats''
References
{{given name
English masculine given names
Given names originating from a surname