| Reginald | Herman | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | counsel-ruler | Army man / soldier |
| Origin | germanic | germanic |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | REJ-ih-nuld | HUR-mun |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1962 (2,647) | 1921 (3,219) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Reginald | Herman |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,155 | 321 |
| 2010s | 3,068 | 750 |
| 2000s | 5,271 | 1,103 |
| 1990s | 9,724 | 1,957 |
| 1980s | 13,500 | 3,124 |
| 1970s | 17,191 | 4,761 |
| 1960s | 24,921 | 8,360 |
| 1950s | 19,338 | 13,832 |
| 1940s | 7,090 | 16,856 |
| 1930s | 3,864 | 20,319 |
| 1920s | 3,699 | 29,011 |
| 1910s | 1,929 | 22,598 |
| 1900s | 439 | 5,064 |
| 1890s | 231 | 4,232 |
| 1880s | 131 | 3,689 |
From Germanic 'ragin' ('counsel, advice') + 'wald' ('rule, power'), i.e. 'ruler by counsel' / 'counsel-power'. Note: this is 'ruler/power', NOT literally 'king'. Reynold and Ronald are closely related forms.
From Germanic 'heri' (army) and 'man' (man), giving 'man of the army, soldier'. The Latinized Arminius refers to the same Cheruscan war-leader.
Reginald and Herman are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Reginald means counsel-ruler (germanic origin), while Herman means Army man / soldier (germanic origin).
In US records, Reginald first appears in 0 and Herman in 0, so Reginald has the longer recorded history.