She was the prissy mom to mean girl Nellie on Little House in the 70s, but today she could make a great name for a daughter
Thanks to Sarah for suggesting Harriet as Name of the Day.
Evergreen Henry was worn by saints and kings. Feminine forms include the four-syllable Henrietta and the slightly more tailored Harriet.
Henri came to England with the Normans, where the English pronounced the name Herry – or Harry. Henriette – the logical French feminine form – must have led to Harriette and Harriet somewhere along that path.
Except that there weren’t any Harriets much before the 1600s, and her heyday was the eighteenth century century. When the US first started compiling baby names stats in the early 1880s, she still ranked in the Top 100.
Notable Harriets over the centuries have included:
- Harriet Martineau was a pioneer in the field of sociology and a noted feminist thinker of the early nineteenth century;
- The aristocratic Harriet Arbuthnot kept diaries about her life among the powerful. Arbuthnot’s husband was a member of Parliament, but it is Arbuthnot’s writings that have endured, especially her observations about her close friend, the Duke of Wellington;
- Born Elizabeth Ann Haryett, Harriet Howard’s life story reads like a work of fiction, including her affair with Napoleon III of France;
- Hawaiian Queen Keopulani converted to Christianity on her deathbed in 1823, borrowing Harriet from a missionary’s wife. Her daughter became known as Harrieta;
- Born Araminta, Harriet Tubman adopted her mother’s given name, and went on to become one of the most famous leaders of the Underground Railroad;
- Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe is remembered for her world-changing 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin;
- Bachelor US President James Buchanan relied on his niece, Harriet Lane, to serve as his hostess during the 1850s;
- Harriet Brooks was something of a Canadian Marie Curie, a pioneer in the field of nuclear physics;
- Suffragette Harriet Shaw Weaver supported early publications of James Joyce’s novels;
- Writer Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to receive a pilot’s license in the US;
- Harriet Zwerling was part of the bohemian circle of Beat poets in Paris in the 1950s and has been a writer and model since;
- Real-life married couple Ozzie and Harriet Nelson starred in a successful radio program turned ABC sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. So did their sons, and later their son’s wives. Call it the first reality TV show.
She’d wear well today, too. Consider:
- Harriet currently ranks #73 in England;
- She shares the -et of Juliet, Violet and Scarlet;
- Her nickname options are great, including Hattie and Hettie, and even tomboy Harry;
- Just like Roald Dahl’s Matilda, there’s an enduring young adult novel with an appealing big screen adaptation.
The book is Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 novel Harriet the Spy, about an eleven year old New Yorker and amateur investigative journalist – she makes the rounds of her ‘hood, noting various factoids about the neighbors and her classmates. Naturally, her notebook falls into the wrong hands and Harriet suffers mightily. But it all ends well, and Harriet becomes editor of the school’s newspaper. It became a movie in 1996; the Disney Channel is about to reboot the character with a made-for-TV movie called Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars.
Add it up, and she’s an appealing choice – smart, quirky cool, bold not dainty and definitely not mainstream.
I love, love, LOVE Harriet.
It’s not bad, it’s just really not me & I don’t think it will change. It sounds very British,which I actually think is pretty cool – the name & variations both male and female just don’t do it for me. I think I have too many Heindrich’s, Hennie etc to make the -He/Ha names appealing to me. They mostly sound pompous or old to me.
Example, I loved Harry Potter growing up but had to adjust to his name
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against names being from a much earlier generation, but the names just seem a bit negatively old. I think my Gran actually knows a Hattie. The nicknames also aren’t doing anything for me -they’re up there with Dottie,Millie & Lottie for me. Overall, it’s by NO MEANS a bad name, it’s just not fitting in with the vibe a kid of mine would be raised in. I think a lot of other people will really like it, though.
It sounds somewhat ‘posh British’ to me, though I’ve never personally known a Harriet.
Hattie is a cute nickname.
I prefer the male Harry & Henry. Or Henrietta. (My hamster, when I was a teenager, was called Henrietta.)
I read a book about Harriet Tubman when I was in elementary school and she is the first Harriet I think of. So many great namesakes, and I even like nns Hettie and Hattie just fine, but somehow Harriet doesn’t do it for me. I sure wouldn’t mind it on someone else’s kid, though! I think I’m likely to waffle a bit with this name – depending on my mood I might like it quite a lot or not much at all… some names just do that to me and this is one of them.
I love Harriet, and I’m sure I’d try to call her Hatsy. This might lead to her NOT loving the name Harriet.
Still, we’d have to have eight more kids to exhaust our girls’ names, and by then we’d probably have named a son Henry, so it would be out.
Interesting that it sounds posh British – I’m neither, so to me it sounds urban hipster – not that I’m either of those things, either.
OOH, I love, love, love Harriet!!!
Unfortunately, it doesn’t really flow well with my husband’s last name. Maybe we can use it for a middle??
Can’t stand Harriet for the first reason you cite: Harriet Olson on Little House on the Prairie. And if you’re my age (40), you might remember a show on PBS that had a character called Henrietta Hippo. I also think of two towns I’ve driven through frequently: Henrietta, Texas, and Henryetta, Oklahoma.
I also know that the main taunt for any Harriet, from about the age of four, will be Hairy. I could get behind Hattie, but only if you absolutely HAVE to use Harriet or Henrietta to honor a family member. However I believe that Hattie would lead to taunts of Batty, Catty, Ratty and/or FATTY.
Joy, I remember Henrietta Hippo! “The New Zoo Review” was my FAVORITE show when I was 4!
I want to love Harriet, really. It’s the name of his beloved Auntie. But I can’t. I’m not superfond of Henry, either (all I hear in my head is hen-REE!) blah. Which was the name of one of his Uncles. So my compromise was Henrietta. I adore Hettie & Hattie both equally and find her whole four syllables absolutely charming. And while Henrietta’s a mouthful with my surname, I find I like that mouthful. Feels just right coming out of my mouth. Harriet is fine for anyone else, give me Henrietta!
And Freddy Frog! When I was that age, and my family took a road trip to Wichita Falls, they’d tell me to look for Henrietta Hippo when we drove through Henrietta.
I adore Harriet!!!
20/11
thats 20/10 sorry
I like Harriet a lot. However, I don’t think it’s a name any girl today would really like to be named. Hattie is charming, but I just love Harryo, which I first heard watching The Duchess. But again, I don’t think anyone would love to be called Harryo. I certaintly wouldn’t want to be called that, but I still love it, if that makes any sense at all!
Harriett is still a wonderful name and I would really respect a baby’s parents for having such class! One of the prettiest girls that i have ever known was named Harriett! My great niece on the way will be named “Harriett Augusta”!
My family is really fond of old classic names that are timeless. None of that trendy stuff for us! I have one son who is 22 and named Judson after a great grandfather who fought in the Civil War. My niece had a daughter almost 3 years ago named Louisa Tatum (Tatum is a family name for us), She is due in August of 2010 with another daughter named Harriett Augusta which I think is so cool! I hate names that when the teacher calls that name 10 kids answer to it!I am 46 but thinking of adopting a special needs daughter in the next few years as a single parent and if she is young enough for a name change then I will give her a great classic old-fashioned name such as Penelope or Alice Jane.
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