Where the Henry name comes from

Henry began as a Germanic personal name, Haimirich, built from haim, meaning home, and ric, meaning strong. It reached England through Old French and Anglo-Norman Henri, and the name has been popular there since the Middle Ages. Its cognates include Heinrich in German, Hendrik in Dutch and Heimrikr in Old Norse. As a surname in France and England it began as a patronymic, carried by a son of a man called Henry.

In Ireland the surname has a second, separate root as an anglicisation of O hInneirghe, descendant of Inneirghe. Other Irish bearers took it from Mac Einri, Mac Hannraoi or Mac Annraoi, son of Henry, which also gave McHenry. Henery and Hendry are alternative spellings of the Irish surname.