Names That Mean Ruler
16 names whose etymology relates to “ruler” — drawn from documented origins, sorted by all-time U.S. popularity.
RichardFrom Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus, Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rī…
EricFrom Middle English Eric, from Old English Eoric, from Old Norse Eirríkr, Eiríkr (from ei (“always, eternal”, see aye) +‎ ríkr (“ruler”)), or from Proto-Germanic *Aizarīkija…
WalterA Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto…
HaroldFrom a merger of Old English Hereweald and Old English Harold (itself from Old Norse Haraldr), both from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz, from *harjaz (“army”) +‎ *waldaz (“rule…
RoyFrom various sources: * Anglo-Norman roy (“king”) a variant of Old French roi, from Latin rēx, rēgem from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of Rey. * Scottish…
FrederickFrom German Friedrich, Friederich and influenced by Latin Friderīcus, Frederīcus, from Old High German Fridurih, from Frankish *Friþurīk, from Proto-Germanic *Friþurīks, from *f…
AubreyFrom Middle English Aubrey, Aubry, from Norman Auberi, Alberi, from Latin Alberīcus, Latinized form of Old High German Alberich, from Proto-Germanic *Albirīks, from *albiz (“elf…
EmeryFrom medieval Germanic personal names, either a variant of Amory, from Amalric, Proto-Germanic *amal (“vigor, bravery”) (compare *ammōną) + Old High German rīhhi (“ruler”), or o…
EnzoBorrowed from Italian Enzo (equivalent to English Hank), from German Heinz, a diminutive of Heinrich (English Henry), from Old High German Heimrih, Haimirich (heim (“home”) + ri…
MaritzaFrom Spanish Maritza, a diminutive of: * María, from Marīa, from Μαρίᾱ (Maríā), from מרים (miryām, “rebellion”); and * Marta, from Martha, from Μάρθα (Mártha), from מרתא (mārtā,…
FallonReduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fallamhain (“descendant of Fallamhan”), a personal name related to follúnaitheoir (“ruler, governor”).
MontgomeryFrom a Norman surname, from a place in Normandy (Old French for "Gomeric's hill"). Gumaric was a Germanic personal name composed of *gumô (“man”) and *rīks (“ruler”) (whence the…
AlaricFrom Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃 (alls, “all”) +‎ 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (reiks, “ruler”), from Proto-Germanic *Alarīks.
EdrickFrom Old English Ēadrīc, from Proto-Germanic *Audarīks, from *audaz (“wealth, riches”) + *rīks (“king, ruler”).
AmoryMedieval personal name from Proto-Germanic *amalą (“vigor, bravery”) + *rīks (“ruler”). For the first element, compare *ammōną (“to bother, irritate”).
ZoltanFrom Hungarian Zoltán, from szultán (“sultan”), from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “ruler”). Doublet of sultan.
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Etymologies adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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