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.

# 761 in the US

Humphrey Rank in US Top 1000

# 1251 on Nameberry

Humphrey Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Humphrey Popularity

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"