Hal

Diminutive of Harold and Henry
"youthful"

Hal Origin and Meaning

The name Hal is a boy's name .

Could Hal be the Jack, Max, or Gus of the future? It just might happen in the new nickname environment. Hank Azaria put it on his son's birth certificate.

Hal is a venerable nickname for Henry, Harry and Harold, famously used by Shakespeare in King Henry IV as the name of the king's son, the future Henry V.

A number of show biz figures of a certain era have gone by the name, including Hals Roach, Wallis, Ashby, Holbrook, David and Linden. In the eponymous film, Jack Black played "Shallow Hal."

As for the bad-guy machine in "2001: A Space Odyssey," that HAL stood for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer.

# 916 in the US

Hal Rank in US Top 1000

# 396 on Nameberry

Hal Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Hal Popularity

Famous People Named Hal

  • Harriet Rebecca "Hal" Lane Johnston
    acting first lady for her uncle James Buchanan
  • Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach
    American film producer, director, actor
  • Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook
    American actor
  • Harold John "Hal" Smith
    American actor and voice actor
  • Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz)
    American actor
  • Harry Magee "Hal" Sparks III
    American actor/comedian
  • Harold Dallas "Hal" Rogers
    U.S. Congressman from Kentucky
  • Harold Smith "Hal" Prince
    American theatre producer
  • (William) Hal Ashby
    American film director
  • Harold John "Hal" Daub Jr.
    U.S. Congressman from Nebraska
  • Hal Willis (born Leonald Francis Gauthier)
    Canadian country music singer
  • Prince Hal
    early nickname of King Henry V of England
  • Thomas Henry Alex "Hal" Robson
    Kanu, Welsh footballer
  • Hal Azaria
    son of actor Hank Azaria and Katie Wright
  • Hal Auden Cumberbatch (b. 2017)
    son of actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter

Hal in Pop Culture

  • Hal Mikkelson
    character in the Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan
  • Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern
    superhero
  • Hal Mason
    character on TV's "Falling Skies"
  • Hal
    dad on TV's "Malcolm in the Middle"
  • HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer)
    evil computer in book/film "2001: A Space Odyssey,"
  • Hal Willis
    police detective of the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain
  • Hal Tucker
    character in movie "Cliffhanger"
  • Electronic Person HAL
    a villain in the manga and anime "Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro"
  • Hal Stewart
    character in the movie "Megamind"
  • Hal Cooper
    wife to Alice Cooper and father to Polly and Betty Cooper on the CW show Riverdale and the Archie Comics universe.
  • Hal Larson
    main character in the 2001 romantic,comedy movie "Shallow Hal" played by Jack Black
  • Hal Auden Cumberbatch
    youngest child of actor Benedict Cumberbatch and director Sophie Hunter