Herbert

Herbert meaning

Herbert is a Christian boy's name of Frankish origin (via Old French).

Army-bright: Frankish *Hari-berct

Also used to mean: illustrious warrior, bright army

Herbert came to England with the Normans. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces it through Old French Herbert to a Frankish name *Hari-berct, literally "army-bright": hari, "army", the same word as Old English here, and berht, "bright". The second element is shared with Albert, Robert, Hubert and Gilbert. Name lists often render it "illustrious warrior", a free paraphrase of the same two parts. In India it is found mostly in older Anglo-Indian, Goan and Mangalorean Christian families.

Source: Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), s.v. Herbert · entry Herbert · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Online Etymology Dictionary, Herbert

Famous namesakes

• Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the United States
• H. G. (Herbert George) Wells, English novelist

Popularity abroad

• #811 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Herbert · Heribert

Related names

Also meaning light

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