Fireworks have been going off over our street every night since Friday, and Bonfire Night isn't until Thursday. The dog has moved in behind the sofa for the week. The rest of us have put the kettle on and gone back to a name we've been meaning to write about for ages.
It's Harry's turn. It's short, it's friendly, and in Britain you'd struggle to find anyone who doesn't know at least one.
Where the name Harry comes from
Harry has Germanic roots, and it's said to mean "home ruler". That's a grand title for a name most of us shorten without thinking. Still, anyone who has ever had full charge of the TV remote at home will know it's a serious job.
That's as far as we'll take the history. Name stories pick up all sorts of embellishments as they go, and we'd rather tell you what we know than make up a family tree.
How Harry gets used
Harry is usually given to boys. Plenty of people are Harry on their birth certificate, and you'll also often find it as the everyday name for a Henry. In Britain it does what our names tend to do and gets shortened even further, so school mates and five-a-side teams across the country are full of people answering to Haz or Hazza.
It's one of those names that works at any stage. It suits a toddler in wellies, a teenager who won't get out of bed and a grandad with strong opinions about how long you should leave a teabag in. Not many names manage all three.
How popular has Harry been in the UK?
Very. Our name data says about 148,138 babies born in Britain between 1997 and 2025 were named Harry. Spread over those years, that comes to roughly 5,100 new Harrys every year, give or take.
Or to put it another way, that's enough Harrys to fill Wembley one and a half times, with a decent queue left at the burger van. If you shouted "Harry!" across a busy park, I'd bet on more than one head turning round.
Famous Harrys
The name keeps very good company. A few we'd put on the list:
- Harry Kane, England captain and the national team's record goalscorer. Handy to have on your side in any argument about penalties.
- Harry Styles, who made his name in One Direction before a solo career that sent him round the world.
- Harry Hill, comedian, owner of some very large shirt collars and the man behind TV Burp.
- Harry Judd, drummer with McFly, who also won Strictly Come Dancing in 2011.
Then there's a certain bespectacled boy wizard from fiction, who has probably done more for the name than the rest of the list put together.
The Harry mugs we'd pick
Now for the bit we actually know about. These are the mugs with Harry's name on them, and we've picked out a few depending on which Harry you're shopping for.
For a Harry with a birthday coming up
Our Happy Birthday Harry mugs come in a few colours. There's the Happy Birthday Harry mug in plain purple, the plain orange one and the plain yellow one. If you're after something a bit different, there's also the Happy Birthday Harry camo mug. That one's my favourite, partly because a camo mug you can't find in the cupboard is a joke that never gets old.
If the birthday is for a few people with different names, the full Happy Birthday name mugs range is the place to look.
For a Harry with a favourite film or game
Our themed name mugs have Harry's name on them in a particular style, and the names tell you which is which:
- The Harry Wizard Themed mug. Yes, we know. A Harry and a wizard theme. Some gifts pick themselves.
- The Harry Godfather Themed mug, for the Harry who runs the family group chat like it's the family business.
- The Harry Tron Themed mug, for anyone who still knows their way round an arcade.
If you like the wizard one but need it for a whole household, there's the full wizard themed name mugs collection too.
For a Harry from Stoke
The #Harry Stoke mug does exactly what the name says. It's for the Harry who never lets you forget where they're from, which, in fairness, is most people from Stoke.
Shopping for a Harry and a Holly?
Have a browse through our G to I names. It's a handy shortcut if the rest of the family has names further along the alphabet as well.
One last thing before Thursday
If your Harry will be standing in a field with a sparkler this week, a hot brew makes it a lot more bearable. If you'd rather keep it seasonal, our Bonfire Night mugs are worth a look. Either way, keep your hands warm and the dog well supplied with biscuits.
