Howard

Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German *Hugihard "heart-brave", or *Hoh-ward, literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probably in some cases a confusion with the Old Norse cognate Haward (Hávarðr), which means "high guard", and as a surname also with the unrelated Hayward. In some rare cases it is from the Old English eowu hierde "ewe herd". In Anglo-Norman the French digram -ou- was often rendered as -ow- such as tour → tower, flour (western variant form of fleur) → flower, etc. (with svarabakhti). A diminutive is "Howie" and its shortened form is "Ward" (most common in the 19th century). Between 1900 and 1960, Howard has ranked in the U.S. Top 200; between 1960 and 1990, it ranked in the U.S. Top 400; between 1990 and 2004, it ranked in the U.S. Top 600. People with the given name Howard or its variants include:

Given name

 * Howard Allen (1949–2020), American serial killer
 * Howard Duane Allman (1946–1971), American guitar virtuoso
 * Howard Anderson (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Andrew (1934–2021), American poker player
 * Howard Ashman (1950–1991), American lyricist known for Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast
 * Howard Baker (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Berman (born 1941), American attorney and politician
 * Howard Bragman (1956–2023), American crisis manager and publicist
 * Howard W. Brill (born 1943), chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court
 * Howard Graham Buffett (born 1954), American businessman, politician, philanthropist, photographer, farmer, and conservationist
 * Howard Burnett (athlete) (born 1961), Jamaican track and field athlete
 * Howard J. Burnett (1929–2019), American president of Washington & Jefferson College
 * Howard Carpendale (born 1946), German singer
 * Howard Carter (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Chaykin (born 1950), American comic book artist and writer
 * Howard Y T Cheng (born 1981), champion apprentice in Hong Kong
 * Howard Cosell (1918–1995), sports broadcaster
 * Howard Ward Cunningham (born 1949), American founder of WikiWikiWeb
 * Howard David, American sportscaster
 * Howard Davies (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Davis (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Dean (born 1948), American politician
 * Howard Donald (born 1968), English singer
 * Howard Devoto (born Howard Trafford, 1952), English singer-songwriter
 * Howard Duff (1913–1990), American actor
 * Howard Eastman (born 1970), Guyanese-British boxer
 * Howard Ehmke (1894–1959), American baseball pitcher
 * Howard Eisenberg (born 1926), American author and journalist
 * Howard Eisley (born 1972), American basketball player and coach
 * Howard Engel (1931–2019), Canadian mystery writer
 * Howard Eskin (born 1951), American sports radio personality
 * Howard Evans (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Fast (1914–2003) American novelist and television writer
 * Howard Fineman (1948–2024), American journalist and television commentator
 * Howard Florey (1898–1968), Australian pharmacologist
 * Howard Gardner (born 1943), American developmental psychologist
 * Howard Goodall (born 1958), British musician, musicologist and TV presenter
 * Howard Grant (boxer) (born 1966), Jamaican-Canadian boxer
 * Howard Hanson (1896–1981), American composer, conductor, educator, and music theorist
 * Howard Hawks (1896–1977), American producer
 * Howard Hesseman (1940–2022), American actor
 * Howard Hotson, British historian
 * Howard A. Howe (1901–1976), American virologist
 * Howard Hughes (1905–1976), American aviation pioneer and film mogul
 * Howard Jacobson (born 1942), British novelist and journalist
 * Howard Johnson (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Jones (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Judd (1935–2007), American physician and medical researcher
 * Howard Kazanjian (born 1942), Armenian-American film producer
 * Howard Keel (1919–2004), singer and actor born Harry Keel
 * Howard Kendall, English football player and manager
 * Howard Andrew Knox (1885–1949), American physician
 * Howard Kurtz (born 1953), American journalist and author
 * Howard Lassoff (1955–2013), American-Israeli basketball player
 * Howard Lederer (born 1964), professional poker player
 * Howard Lesnick (1931–2020), American, Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
 * Howard Long (1905–1939), American convicted murderer
 * H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), American writer (full name Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
 * Howard Lutnick (born 1961), American billionaire businessman
 * Howard Hamilton Mackey (1901–1987), American architect, educator
 * Howard McNear (1905–1969), American radio and television actor
 * Howard Marks (1945–2016), teacher, drug smuggler and author
 * Howard Matthews (1885–1963), English footballer
 * Howard W. Mattson (1927–1998), American chemist and journalist
 * Howard Metzenbaum (1917–2008) American politician and businessman
 * Howard Morris (1919–2005), American actor, comedian, and director
 * Howard T. Odum (1924–2002), American ecologist
 * Howard Allen O'Brien, birth name of American writer Anne Rice
 * Howard Payne (athlete) (1931–1992), English hammer thrower
 * Howard Pyle (1853–1911), American illustrator, painter, and author
 * Howard Schatz, American fine art photographer
 * Howard Roberts (1929–1992) American guitarist, educator, and session musician
 * Howard Schultz (born 1953), American businessman and CEO of Starbucks
 * Howard Shane, American Autism researcher
 * Howard Shore (born 1946), Canadian composer
 * Howard Sims (1917–2003) African-American tap dancer
 * Howard da Silva (1909–1986), American actor, director and musical performer
 * Howard Smalley (born 1942), New Zealand cricketer
 * Howard Smith (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Smothers (born 1973), American football player
 * Howard Spira, American gambler who was paid by George Steinbrenner to find dirt on baseball player Dave Winfield
 * Howard Stableford (born 1959), British television and radio presenter
 * Howard Staunton (1810–1874), British chess player and Shakespearean scholar
 * Howard Stern (born 1954), American talk-radio host
 * Howard K. Stern (born 1968), attorney for Anna Nicole Smith
 * Howard Stidham (born 1954), American football player
 * Howard Stupp (born 1955), Canadian Olympic wrestler
 * Howard Tayler (born 1968), American cartoonist
 * Howard Turner (1897–1976), American football player
 * Howard Unruh (1921–2009), American spree killer
 * Howard Wales (1943–2020), American musician
 * Howard Walker (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Walter (1883–1918), American Congregationalist minister and hymnist
 * Howard Washington (born 1998), American-Canadian basketball player
 * Howard Watt (1911–2005), South African rugby union player
 * Howard Watts III (born 1987), American politician
 * Howard Webb (born 1971), English professional football referee
 * Howard Wilkinson (born 1943), English football manager
 * Howard Williams (disambiguation), name of several people
 * Howard Wilson (American football) (born 1995), American football player
 * Howard Wilson (physicist), British physicist
 * Howard Zinn (1922–2010), American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist

Howie

 * Howie B (born 1963), Scottish musician and producer Howard Bernstein
 * Howie Carr (born 1952), American journalist
 * Howie Day (born 1981), American singer-songwriter
 * Howie Dorough (born 1973), American musician with Backstreet Boys
 * Howie Epstein (1955–2003), American musician
 * Howie Gordon (later known as Richard Pacheco), American pornographic actor
 * Howie Hawkins, American politician and activist
 * Howie Long (born 1960), American former football player and actor
 * Howie Mandel (born 1955), Canadian comedian and actor, host of the TV show Deal or No Deal
 * Howie Meeker (1923–2020), Canadian hockey player, TV sports announcer, Member of Parliament
 * Howie Morenz (1902–1937), Canadian ice hockey player
 * Howie Nave (born 1956), American comedian, radio personality, writer, promoter and movie critic
 * Howie Rose (born 1954), American sportscaster
 * Howie Severino (born 1961), Filipino broadcast journalist
 * Howie Winter (1929–2020), American mobster

Fictional characters

 * Howard Bellamy (Doctors), in the British soap opera Doctors
 * Howard Clifford, a fictional villain in the Detective Pikachu movie
 * Howard Cunningham (Happy Days), in the TV series Happy Days
 * Howard DeVille, in the animated series Rugrats
 * Howard Hamlin, a fictional character on the AMC television series Better Call Saul
 * Howard Huge, a comic strip dog
 * Howard Hunter, in the TV series Hill Street Blues, played by James B. Sikking
 * Howard Langston, in the 1996 film Jingle All the Way
 * Howard McBride, in the animated series The Loud House
 * Howard McGreggor, in the TV series Fresh Meat (TV series)
 * Howard Moon, in the TV series The Mighty Boosh, portrayed by Julian Barratt
 * Howard Nichols, a character in the 1981 American made-for-television movie Fallen Angel
 * Howard Roark, protagonist of Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead
 * Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Howard Wolowitz, a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.
 * Howard the Duck, a comic book character
 * Howard Link, a "Crow" and Inspector for the Black Order in the anime/manga D. Gray Man
 * Howard Marner, a fictional character from Short Circuit (1986 film)
 * Howard Silk, main character and agent in the TV series Counterpart (TV series)