Arnold is a masculine
German,
Dutch and
Englishgiven name.
It is composed of the
Germanic elementsarn "eagle" and wald "power, brightness". The name is first recorded in
Francia from about the 7th century, at first often conflated with the name Arnulf, as in the name of bishop
Arnulf of Metz, also recorded as Arnoald. Arnulf appears to be the older name (with cognates in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse), and German (
Frankish) Arnold may have originally arisen in c. the 7th century as a corruption of Arnulf, possibly by conflation of similar names such as Hari-wald, Arn-hald, etc.
The name is attested with some frequency in
Medieval Germany during the 8th to 11th centuries, as Arnold, Arnalt, Arnald, Arnolt. It was occasionally spelled Harnold, Harnald, and the name may have been conflated with an independent formation containing hari- "host, army". Its etymology ceased to be evident from an early time, and it was sometimes folk-etymologized as Ehrenhold in the
early modern period.
The French form Arnaud is recorded from the 10th century, and may have reinforced and been reinforced by cognates in England after the Norman conquest, such as the Anglo-Saxon form Earnweald (Doomsday Book Ernehale; Ernaldus 12th century). However, the Norman spelling did not survive into the modern period (other than a possible survival in surnames such as Arnall,
Arnell, although these names could be of multiple origins, most likely the
Old English), and once standardised spelling swept England, the form Arnold gradually became the norm. In most of the English speaking world, the name regained popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In the United States, Arnold had a relative surge of popularity at the beginning of the 20th century, peaking as the 89th most commonly given masculine name in 1916, but it dropped again below rank 200 by the 1950s.
^nordicnames.de, citing Kristoffer Kruken, Ola Stemshaug, Norsk Personnamnleksikon (1995)
Förstemann, Ernst (1900). Altdeutsches Namenbuch (3 ed.). Bonn: P. Hanstein, 114–118.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Arnold is a masculine
German,
Dutch and
Englishgiven name.
It is composed of the
Germanic elementsarn "eagle" and wald "power, brightness". The name is first recorded in
Francia from about the 7th century, at first often conflated with the name Arnulf, as in the name of bishop
Arnulf of Metz, also recorded as Arnoald. Arnulf appears to be the older name (with cognates in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse), and German (
Frankish) Arnold may have originally arisen in c. the 7th century as a corruption of Arnulf, possibly by conflation of similar names such as Hari-wald, Arn-hald, etc.
The name is attested with some frequency in
Medieval Germany during the 8th to 11th centuries, as Arnold, Arnalt, Arnald, Arnolt. It was occasionally spelled Harnold, Harnald, and the name may have been conflated with an independent formation containing hari- "host, army". Its etymology ceased to be evident from an early time, and it was sometimes folk-etymologized as Ehrenhold in the
early modern period.
The French form Arnaud is recorded from the 10th century, and may have reinforced and been reinforced by cognates in England after the Norman conquest, such as the Anglo-Saxon form Earnweald (Doomsday Book Ernehale; Ernaldus 12th century). However, the Norman spelling did not survive into the modern period (other than a possible survival in surnames such as Arnall,
Arnell, although these names could be of multiple origins, most likely the
Old English), and once standardised spelling swept England, the form Arnold gradually became the norm. In most of the English speaking world, the name regained popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In the United States, Arnold had a relative surge of popularity at the beginning of the 20th century, peaking as the 89th most commonly given masculine name in 1916, but it dropped again below rank 200 by the 1950s.
^nordicnames.de, citing Kristoffer Kruken, Ola Stemshaug, Norsk Personnamnleksikon (1995)
Förstemann, Ernst (1900). Altdeutsches Namenbuch (3 ed.). Bonn: P. Hanstein, 114–118.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.