We only have a date of birth for Heribald Bolger, but we can be sure that he lived until at least III 3001 (S.R. 1401) because he is listed as being among the guests at Bilbo Baggins' Farewell Party in that year. Assuming a typical Hobbit lifespan, Heribald probably lived into the early decades of the Fourth Age.

Heribald was a real Old English name, but its meaning is not directly explained. One plausible source would be a combination of the elements heri- ('praiseworthy', 'glorious') and bald ('bold', 'courageous'), but the name may alternatively be related to herë for an army or group of soldiers.

Indeed, Heribald Bolger is not mentioned at all in earlier editions of The Lord of the Rings (in which the genealogies of the Shire-hobbits showed his mother and father, but not their three children). It was not until the book's 50^th Anniversary Edition in 2004 that the family tree of the Bolgers was included, revealing Heribald's name as well as those of his brother and sister.