# Harold

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈhæɹ.əld/ · frequency rank #6,791

## Definitions
1. A male given name from Old English or Old Norse.

## Etymology
From a merger of Old English Hereweald and Old English Harold (itself from Old Norse Haraldr), both from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz, from *harjaz (“army”) + *waldaz (“ruler, authority”). Related to Walter, which has the elements reversed. Cognate with Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish Harald, Faroese and Icelandic Haraldur.

## Easily confused with
- **hold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harold-vs-hold)
- **Herod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harold-vs-herod)
- **herald** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harold-vs-herald)
- **Harwood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harold-vs-harwood)
- **hard** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hard-vs-harold)
- **hardly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hardly-vs-harold)
- **harmed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harmed-vs-harold)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ahrold`, `haorld`, `harlod`, `harodl`, `haroldd`, `harolld`, `harrold`, `hharold`, `hraold`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/harold