Herold
A name derived from the Medieval German title meaning "herald, messenger".
Name Census estimates that about 150 living Americans carry the first name Herold. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Herold today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Herold births was 1923 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Herold. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Herold is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Herolds were born before 1966.
People living today
150
~ 1 in 2,285,029 Americans
Peak year
1923
26 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1999 SSA rank
#10,521
Tracked since 1894
Census
Herold in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 689 people with the first name Herold, which placed it at #16,394 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,394
National first-name rank
People counted
689
689 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Herold
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herold is Black at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (34.3%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Herold described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Herold at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.7% · 377
- White34.3% · 236
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 18
- Two or more races2.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 13
Popularity
Herold: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Herold from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 177 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Herold by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Herold during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Herolds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Herold
The given name Herold originated from the Germanic languages and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old High German word "heru" or "heri," which means "army" or "warrior," and the suffix "-wald," meaning "ruler" or "leader." Therefore, Herold essentially translates to "army leader" or "military commander."
During the Middle Ages, the name Herold was particularly popular among the nobility and military elite in various Germanic regions, including modern-day Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. It was often bestowed upon sons of knights, lords, and other high-ranking individuals within the feudal system, reflecting their potential to become valiant warriors and leaders in their own right.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Herold can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a renowned German epic poem dating back to the 13th century. In this literary work, Herold is mentioned as a prominent character, though it remains unclear whether he was a historical figure or a fictional creation.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Herold. One such figure was Herold von Höchstätten (c. 1200-1260), a German knight and crusader who participated in the Sixth Crusade under the command of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Another example is Herold von Eppstein (c. 1250-1318), a German nobleman and cleric who served as the Archbishop of Cologne from 1299 until his death.
During the Renaissance period, the name Herold gained further prominence. One notable bearer was Herold Leckingby (c. 1470-1542), an English courtier and diplomat who served under Henry VIII and played a significant role in the negotiations surrounding the King's annulment from Catherine of Aragon.
In the realm of art and literature, Herold Grimm (1564-1636) was a German Renaissance painter and engraver known for his intricate woodcuts and etchings depicting religious and mythological scenes. Additionally, Herold Oluszewski (1869-1952) was a Polish writer and poet who made significant contributions to the development of Polish literature in the early 20th century.
While the name Herold has fallen out of widespread use in recent times, it remains a part of historical records and continues to evoke associations with the noble warriors and leaders of the Germanic past.
People
Herold + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Herold as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Herold: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herold?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 150 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Herold going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,285,029 US residents.
Is Herold a common name?
We classify Herold as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 618 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Herold most popular?
The single biggest year for Herold was 1923, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Herold is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Herold in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 689 people with the name Herold, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,394 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Herold in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Herold?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Herold appears almost entirely male. Of the 689 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Herold?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herold is Black at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (34.3%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Herold most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Herold in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (377 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Herold in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Herold a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Herold in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Herold still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Herold in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Herold can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Herold?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.