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Picture this: You’re sitting in section, your brain on autopilot while you scroll through your fifth “Senior Sale!!!” email like it’s your job (which, let’s face it, it basically is at this point, but no, this does not mean you can stop recruiting). You’re tuned out, thinking about whether you really need that lightly worn T-shirt, when suddenly your TF calls for Henry.
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Henry. Which Henry? Who is Henry? At Harvard College alone, you have at least 26 choices; the name is the 23rd most popular name on campus. Why? We’re not quite sure. While Henry now holds a coveted position among the 20 most popular baby names year after year, it barely cracked the top 100 most popular names until the late 2000s, after most current undergraduates were born. Henry isn’t just a popular name on campus but an oddly popular one.
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How were the parents of our campus Henrys so ahead of the baby-name-popularity curve? Does someone at the admissions office automatically award brownie points to any applicant named Henry? We just had to know. To get to the bottom of the curious abundance of Henrys on campus, we spoke to a few of them.
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What does the name Henry mean to you?
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Henry D. Pahlow ’28: I’m the fourth Henry Pahlow. So it started with my great-great-great grandpa, who immigrated here, and he was actually married to a Henrietta, and he named his son Henry, and then his son named his son Henry… So I think a lot of what the name Henry means to me is about family… I hope I can walk in their footsteps.
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Henry P. Moss IV ’26: I actually am Henry the fourth! For me, it brings back memories of family — my dad, my granddad, great granddad, all that kind of stuff.
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Henry Xuan ’25: I actually texted my mom about this a while ago… She said I was named after the king Henry… And I think her point was, she wanted to name me after people who are known for, like, their strong leadership ability, like, had a lot of vision, had the ability to navigate through difficult times.
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Have you ever considered going by a name other than Henry?
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HDP: Sometimes, like, I've had teachers and friends that like — I'm not French, but they call me Henri.
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HPM: I’ve had a few nicknames. Sometimes, I go by Hennessy. I’m just kidding. But no, I never really seriously had a nickname. I like the name Henry.
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HX: I get a lot of, like, nicknames… But I think my favorite nickname — I think this is the one I, like, actually seriously considered going by — is the French version of my name, which is Henri… But the funny part is, like, I didn’t know it’s spelled H-E-N-R-I… I thought it was spelled, like, O-N-R-Y.
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Would you name your kid Henry?
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HDP: Depending on my future spouse, if they’d agree to that, I think it’d be cool to continue the family tradition, but I know it’s kind of fallen out of favor to name your child after you… I think it’s a good name, and I’d be happy to give my son such a great name. Or, if I have a daughter, maybe Henrietta.
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HPM: Oh, I would have to! Henry V! I mean, you gotta get to Henry VIII, he's the most famous Henry of all time.
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Do you think the name Henry suits you?
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HDP: I think it’s short, but sweet. I mean, I’m not short, but I try to be humorous. I try to, even in the short interactions I have with people, make an impact on their day, joke around.
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HPM: I think that the name Henry suits me very well. I love the name Henry. It’s great! When I think of Henry, I think of kind of chill, not super uptight, kind of goes with the flow, but always down to have a good time.
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HX: I think so. I think it’s, like, a personable name. It’s not as basic as, like, Kevin, I guess… I think it has some character to it, honestly.
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Have you ever interacted with another Henry on campus?
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HDP: Oh, many. And you know, it’s so joyful… I feel like everyone sort of grew up where the name Henry wasn’t necessarily common, and now, we come here, and we all find each other, and it’s sort of beautiful. Like, I don't think there’s a Henry club on campus, but I would be open to starting one.
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HPM: Henry Xuan; he runs the Eliot grille.
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HX: I have indeed, many times… I think there’s just, like, an immediate sense of camaraderie whenever someone else is named Henry. Like, we’d always dap each other up; we’d immediately be buddies. We don’t really talk about why we’re named Henry. It's just like, ‘Hey, you’re named Henry. I'm named Henry. Like, of course, we’re gonna be best friends.’
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Do you consider yourself to be better than the average student on the basis of being named Henry?
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HDP: No. Okay, I think Henry is a good name. I think there’s a lot of other really good, more creative names on campus.
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HPM: Without a doubt, yeah. The name Henry just gives you plus… I don’t know the exact amount, but plus something. The baseline is just higher.
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HX: I think so. I mean, I hope so, rather. I think maybe we hold ourselves to a higher standard… I think there’s just a lot of history with the name… So it’s almost, like, a little bit of an expectation.
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Who’s your favorite Henry that you’ve met on campus?
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HDP: Can I say, like, I like them all equally? Every chance I’ve gotten to interact with a Henry, I think I’ve taken something different from the interaction, and it’s been beautiful to find our commonalities, but also nerd out about our differences.
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HPM: Henry Xuan, I really like the guy! He completely restarted the Eliot grille after it closed during COVID. He took that project and did it all himself, so I have the utmost respect for that.
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HX: I'd say Henry Wu [’25]. He, like, performed at the first-year talent show. And I think people, like, confused us sometimes. And then some people were like, ‘Yo, you killed it at the talent show,’ and I'd be like, ‘Huh?’
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If our conversations with these Henrys are any indication, no one’s quite sure why there are so many Henrys on campus, but they’re not complaining. And neither are we. (As long as there aren’t, like, 15 in the Class of 2029 — we have to draw the line somewhere.)
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