Humphrey

German

"peaceful warrior"

Humphrey Origin and Meaning

The name Humphrey is a boy's name of German origin meaning "peaceful warrior".

Humphrey is an old name that might have faded completely were it not for that Bogie flair. A royal name in Britain, where it's used somewhat more frequently, Humphrey might just have some life beyond Bogart here, especially with the recent interest in the names of Golden Age Hollywood stars. His first name was the maiden name of his mother, Maud Humphrey, a well-known illustrator who used baby H. as a model.

Humphrey was brought to England by the Normans and was made famous by Duke Humphrey, the fifteenth century Duke of Gloucester and youngest son of Henry IV, a noted patron of literature, who appears in Shakespeare's Henry IV. In other literature, Humphrey Wasp is a character in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, and the eponymous hero of Tobias Smollett's early novel Humphrey Clinker. In James Joyce's Finnegans Wake Humphrey Climpden Earwicker represents the everyman.

Bottom line: An interesting name with a noirish edge.

Humphrey Rank in US Top 1000

# 761 in the US

Humphrey Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1245 on Nameberry

Humphrey Popularity

• 1245 Nameberry 2024

20 Names Similar to Humphrey

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Humphrey.

• Montgomery
• Barnabas
• Archibald
• Mortimer
• Barnaby
• Edgar
• Bartholomew
• Godfrey
• Rupert
• Harold
• Bernard
• Leopold
• Wilfred
• Woodrow
• Gilbert
• Chester
• Seymour
• Gulliver
• Herbert
• Ernest

Famous People Named Humphrey

• Humphrey DeForest Bogart American actor
• (David) Humphrey Rivers Ker English actor and comedian
• Humphrey Gilbert English explorer and MP; half,brother of Sir Walter Raleigh
• Humphrey Lyttelton English jazz musician and composer
• Humphrey of Lancaster 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Pembroke, youngest son of King Henry IV of England
• Humphrey Bate American harmonica player and bandleader
• Humphrey Searle English composer
• Humphrey Ocean English painter
• Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins Baron Colnbrook, English MP and cabinet minister
• Humphrey Wells American politician; 11th governor of Georgia for 2 days

Humphrey in Pop Culture

• Humphrey Repton landscape gardener in Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park"
• Humphrey Appleby character on British TV series "Yes, Minister"
• Humphrey Cadwallader Rector in the 1871 novel “Middlemarch” by George Elliot
• Humphrey the Bear Walt Disney cartoon character
• Humphrey hamster in the "According to Humphrey" series by Betty Birney
• Daniel Humphrey character in the Gossip Girl series
• DI Humphrey Goodman detective inspector on British/French TV series "Death In Paradise"