| Herman | Randolph | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Army man / soldier | shield wolf |
| Origin | germanic | germanic |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | HUR-mun | RAN-dolf |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1921 (3,219) | 1952 (1,817) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Herman | Randolph |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 321 | 133 |
| 2010s | 750 | 434 |
| 2000s | 1,103 | 799 |
| 1990s | 1,957 | 1,572 |
| 1980s | 3,124 | 2,900 |
| 1970s | 4,761 | 4,020 |
| 1960s | 8,360 | 8,195 |
| 1950s | 13,832 | 15,496 |
| 1940s | 16,856 | 7,555 |
| 1930s | 20,319 | 2,854 |
| 1920s | 29,011 | 2,735 |
| 1910s | 22,598 | 1,857 |
| 1900s | 5,064 | 414 |
| 1890s | 4,232 | 267 |
| 1880s | 3,689 | 193 |
From Germanic 'heri' (army) and 'man' (man), giving 'man of the army, soldier'. The Latinized Arminius refers to the same Cheruscan war-leader.
From the Germanic/Old Norse name Randwulf (Rannulfr), combining 'rand' ('shield, rim') and 'wulf/ulfr' ('wolf'), meaning 'shield wolf'. Note some Norman forms became confused with Rannulf ('raven wolf').
Herman and Randolph are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Herman means Army man / soldier (germanic origin), while Randolph means shield wolf (germanic origin).
In US records, Herman first appears in 0 and Randolph in 0, so Herman has the longer recorded history.