Harry

See also harry

English

Etymology

Medieval English spoken form of Old French Henri.

Pronunciation

• (RP, Boston, NY) enPR: hărʹ-i, IPA: /ˈhæɹi/, X-SAMPA: /"h{r\i/

  Rhymes: -æri

• (GenAm) enPR: hârʹ-i, hărʹ-i, IPA: /ˈhɛəɹi/, /ˈhæɹi/, X-SAMPA: /"hE@r\i/, /"h{r\i/

  (some accents) Homophone: hairy

Proper noun

Harry

1. A male given name, also used as a pet form of Henry and Harold.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2: Act V, Scene V:

     Yet weep that Harry's dead, and so will I; / But Harry lives that shall convert those tears / By number into hours of happiness.

   • 1830 Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names:

     Henry now, what a soft swain your Henry is! the proper theme of gentle poesy; a name to fall in love withal; devoted at the font to song and sonnet, and the tender passion; a baptized inamorato; a christened hero. Call him Harry, and see how you ameliorate his condition. The man is free again, turned out of song and sonnet and romance, and young ladies' hearts. Shakspeare understood this well, when he wrote of prince Hal and Harry Hotspur. To have called them Henry would have spoiled both characters.

2. (rare compared to given name) A patronymic surname.

Related terms

• Hal
• Harriet

Translations

male given name

• Arabic: هاري (ar) (haari) m
• Belarusian: Гары (be) (Háry) m
• Bengali: হ্যারি (bn)
• Bulgarian: Хари (bg) (Hári) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哈利 (cmn) (Hālì)

• Greek: Χάρι (el) (Chári) m
• Hebrew: הארי (he)
• Hindi: हैरी (hi) (hairī)
• Japanese: ハリー (ja) (Harī)

• Korean: 해리 (ko) (Haeri)
• Latvian: Harijs (lv) m
• Macedonian: Хари (mk) (Hári) m
• Mongolian: Харри (mn) (Hárri)
• Persian: هری (fa)
• Russian: Гарри (ru) (Gárri) m, Харри (ru) (Hárri) m
• Serbo-Croatian: Хари (sh) m, Harry (sh) m, Hari (sh) m, Хари (sh) m
• Thai: แฮร์รี่ (th) (hae-rêe)
• Ukrainian: Гаррі (uk) (Hárri) m
• Yiddish: הארי (yi)

---

Danish

Proper noun

Harry

1. A male given name borrowed from English.

---

German

Proper noun

Harry

1. A male given name borrowed from English.

---

Norwegian

Proper noun

Harry

1. A male given name borrowed from English.

---

Swedish

Proper noun

Harry

1. A male given name borrowed from English.