Harry
A surname from the familiar form of Henry, and in Welsh usage also a shortened form behind patronymics like Parry and Harrison.
The #3,802 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,159 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Harry is best understood as a patronymic surname from the personal name Harry, the familiar English form of Henry. In older English usage, Harry could be used very broadly for people named Henry, even kings, which is why surnames like Harrison mean “son of Harry.” In Welsh naming, ap Harry (“son of Harry”) was also a source of surnames such as Parry.
History
The surname appears in English records as a straightforward name based on the very common medieval given name Harry. It is closely tied to the spread of Henry/Harry as a popular forename, especially in England. Welsh patronymic forms using ap Harry helped generate related surnames like Parry, and some older writers treated Harry as the English counterpart of French Henri.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers noted that Harry was so familiar a form of Henry that it could even be used for royal Henries in ordinary speech.
From the historical record
“tiller of laud. HARRY. See Henry. Harry was fami- liarly applied even to royal Henries. See Shakspeare, passim. HARSTOX. A jiarisli inco. Cambridge. HART. A male deer — a common charge of lieraldrj'. Its medieval form as a sur- name is ' Le Hart.' We have a large im- portation of Harts from Germany, where the word…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Harry
- Debbie Harry (b. 1945)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.