There are a number of competing explanations for the name of Harold's Cross, which has been extant for a very long time, and indeed whether there was an eponymous Harold, or whether the name referred to a class or group of "Haralds." Debating the question is considered a good way to start an argument in the area, since there is no clear or contemporaneously recorded answer (though many authoritatively stated, though significantly different, explanations since the 19th century), and there is at least some tenuous justification to each.