# 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 playwright, lyricist and stage director
* 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 jockey in Hong Kong
* Howard Cosell (1918–1995), sports broadcaster
* Howard "Ward" Cunningham (born 1949), American founder of WikiWikiWeb
* Howard B. Cushing (1838–1871), American soldier during the Civil War
* 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 Frances O'Brien, American writer under the pen name 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 Van Smith (1909–1987), American journalist
* 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)