Dog Names That Start With H

These days, it's thought of less as the name of the great general and more as the first name of Lecter the fictional cannibal. Either association is too heavy for a child to bear.

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, well known in the U. S. , might inspire some namesakes.

Heloise is an ancient name related to sleek, peppy classic Eloise. Both ultimately derive from the Germanic name Helewidis, which became Helewis in medieval England. In the twelfth century, the name was borne by the beloved of the French philosopher Pierre Abelard, who was considered to be one of the most learned women of the Middle Ages.

Heathcliff is the name of the original passionate macho hero of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and also of the cartoon cat. It was chosen by fashionista Lucy Sykes for her son, and inspired the late Heath Ledger's name. But otherwise it's barely used, and perhaps a bit much of a namesake. For a modern boy we'd recommend Heath....or Cliff.

Another culture's take on the Hailey/Halle phenomenon.

Smart and preppy, but with plenty of heart, Hartley is a surname style name that could work as an alternative to the popular Harley, Harlowe, Harper, and Hadley. Quietly used for boys throughout the 20th century, Hartley took off for girls in 2010 after both Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath and baseball player Matt Cain used the name for their daughters.

Like a large proportion of traditional Hawaiian names, Hoku can be used for both girls and boys.

The second most popular spelling of this name is also the most straightforward.

Harvest has been occasionally used as a name since the eighteenth century, originally as evenly unisex, but in the US data for last year was starting to lean more female, given to 29 girls and 11 boys. Harvest can be seen as pleasantly archaic, rich and ripe, fitting in with popular baby names like Harper and Harry, and is also a fresh take on names like Autumn and August and one of the best names for autumn babies.

Hortense is actually the French feminine form of Hortensia, the name of a strong, politically active early Roman woman. Hortense began to be used in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. Napoleon had a stepdaughter named Hortense, it was the name of one of the main characters in the film Secrets and Lies and is also associated with novelist Hortense Calisher. As unappealing as it might be to most American parents, Hortense is now Number 155 in France (as of 2021).

If you like names that are not really names -- some say, the wave of the future -- Harbor has an attractive sound as well as an appealing meaning and image.

Though long associated with the iconic male fashion designer -- who went by his middle name alone -- rising young actress Halston Sage has made Halston feel plausible as a girls' name too.

The name of a British town on the Thames that hosts a famous regatta, so it could be an appropriate middle name for the son of boat-lovers.

A classic virtue name for girls stretching back to the Pilgrim times, in more recent years, Honor has become one of the unisex baby names with a near-even gender split. Rarely used on boys before the 2010s, it has nearly doubled in use over the last decade.

Trippy variation on Hayes.

The name of the Greek goddess of youth, daughter of Zeus and Hera, is rarely used today but may be ripe for revival considering the rejuvenation of the rhyming Phoebe. We'd call it one of the Greek goddess names ripe for modern use.

Once upon a time, in the 1930s, Huey (yes, just Huey) was a Top 250 name. Could the 100-Year Rule bring it back?

Free and fun name if you don't want to be pinned down to Noelle, Pasqua, or Valentine.

Being a modern word, Halo didn’t become used as a name until around the nineteenth century. Halo is now mostly given to girls, and has become more common since the Halo video game series was released in 2001, in which Halo rings are huge structures used as weapons, but do have a religious connection. A space age virtue name and possible honour name for Gloria.

Traditional German names of this ilk have had a difficult time emigrating into the American name pool, mostly because anti-German sentiment during the two world wars of the 20th century drove German names out of fashion. One of Heinrich's nicknames, Harro, might do better.