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Howard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Howard
PronunciationHAO-erd
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameOld English, Old Norse
Other names
Related namesHowie, Ward

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 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".[1][2] In Anglo-Norman the French digram -ou- was often rendered as -ow- such as tourtower, 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 has 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.[3] People with the given name Howard or its variants include:

Given name

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Howie

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  • 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 (born 1955), Canadian comedian and actor, host of the TV show Deal or No Deal
  • Howie Meeker (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
  • Howie Rose (born 1954), American sportscaster
  • Howie Severino (born 1961), Filipino broadcast journalist
  • Howie Winter (1929–2020), American mobster

Fictional characters

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References

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  1. ^ "howard". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  2. ^ Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges: A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1988.
  3. ^ "Howard, name meaning and origin". Think Baby Names. Retrieved 2008-02-12.