Humphrey

Where Humphrey comes from

Name of a 9th-century French saint, brought to England by Normans; Proto-Germanic *unnaną (“to grant, bestow”) + *friþuz (“peace”). In Ireland it has been used to Anglicize Irish Amhlaoibh (= Olaf).
— Wiktionary's entry for Humphrey
  • Germanic
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1539
    Humphrey Gilbert born
    English explorer, politician and soldier
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #909 among boys — 5 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1893
    Peak, #650
    10 babies named Humphrey — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1895
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  5. 1899
    Humphrey Bogart born
    American actor
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Humphrey Bogart · American actor, 1899–1957
  • Humphrey Gilbert · English explorer, politician and soldier, 1539–1583
  • Humphrey Carpenter · British writer and broadcaster, 1946–2005
  • Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester · 15th-century English nobleman, 1390–1447
  • Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham · British noble, 1402–1460

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.