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Harriet - Origin and Meaning of the name

Meaning of the name Harriet

[ 3 syll. har-riet, ha-rri-et ] The girl name Harriet is pronounced HHEHRiyahT KEY. Harriet is of Germanic origin and it is used mainly in English. The name is an Anglicized form of the French Henriette. It was first adopted by English speakers in the 17th century, and it was commonly used in the subsequent two centuries. It is also used as an Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic Oighrig. In literature, it has appeared as the name of the sweet girl Harriet Smith in Jane Austen's novel Emma (1816). Harriet is the feminine form of the English Harry.

Harriet has 30 forms that are used in both English and foreign languages. English forms of the name include Harri, Harrietta, Henia (used in Polish as well), Henrietta (used in German as well), Henriette (used in French, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian as well), Hetti, Hettie, and Hetty (used in German and Dutch as well). Other English forms include the pet forms Harrie, Harry, Hatsie, Hatsy, Hattie, and Hatty, and the spelling variants Hariet, Harriett, Harriette, Harriot, and Harriott.

Forms of Harriet used in foreign languages include the Scandinavian Arriet, the Romanian Enrieta, the Spanish Enriqueta, the Spanish Enriquita, the Polish Henka, the Polish Henrieta, the Latvian Henriete, the Czech Jindraska, the Spanish Kika, the Spanish Kiki, and the Spanish Queta.

Harriet is a form of the English and German Henrietta in the English language.

See also the related form, the Scottish Oighrig.

Harriet is unusual as a baby girl name. Its usage peaked modestly in 1917 with 0.196% of baby girls being named Harriet. It had a ranking of #104 then. The baby name has markedly slipped in popularity since then, and is used only on an infrequent scale today. Among all girl names in its family, Harriet was nevertheless the most regularly used in 2008.

Baby names that sound like Harriet include the English Harriot, the Indian Harita, the English Harriett, the English Harriette, the English Harriott, the English Hariet, the English Harrietta, the English and German Herta, and the English and German Hertha.

Details of famous persons named Harriet:
Actress Harriet Walter, born Harriet Mary Walter 24 September 1950, London, England.
Anti-slavery Activist Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross, Dorchester County, Maryland.
Author Harriet Beecher Stowe, born Harriet Elizabeth Beecher 14 June 1811 - 1 July 1896, Litchfield, Connecticut.
Author Harriet Martineau, born June 12, 1802 - June 27, 1876, Norwich, England.
Lawyer Harriet Miers, born 10 August 1945, Dallas, Texas.

KEY: Pronunciation for Harriet: HH as in "he (HH.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; T as in "tea (T.IY)"


 
Popularity Trend
for Harriet
from 1900 to 2008
Variant Popularity Chart
for Harriet
in 2008
 

Meaning of Harriet Meaning of Harrie Meaning of Hatty Meaning of Henrietta Meaning of Henriette Meaning of Hetty Meaning of Hettie Meaning of Hetti Meaning of Hatsie Meaning of Hatsy Meaning of Hattie Meaning of Henia Meaning of Oighrig Meaning of Harry Meaning of Harriot Meaning of Harriette Meaning of Harriett Meaning of Hariet Meaning of Harriott Meaning of Harri Meaning of Harrietta Meaning of Henri Meaning of Etta Meaning of Ettie Meaning of Retta Meaning of Netty Meaning of Nettie Meaning of Henny Meaning of Hennie Meaning of Etty Meaning of Henie Meaning of Henryetta Meaning of Hennrietta Meaning of Henrie Meaning of Hennreitta Meaning of Henri Meaning of Henry Meaning of Esther Meaning of Rhetta Meaning of Natalie Meaning of Janet Meaning of Jeannette Meaning of Nicole Meaning of Nico Meaning of Nic Meaning of Cole Meaning of Nikki Meaning of Nikita Meaning of Nikia Meaning of Nicolette Meaning of Nickye Meaning of Nicky Meaning of Coley Meaning of Nicolle Meaning of Nikol Meaning of Nikole Meaning of Niquole Meaning of Nicol Meaning of Nickole Meaning of Nickol Meaning of Nicholle Meaning of Nichole Meaning of Nichol Meaning of Necole Meaning of Nykole Meaning of Nicola Meaning of Nicki Meaning of Nico Meaning of Nicodemus Meaning of Nicholas Meaning of Nic Meaning of Nikki Meaning of Nicky Meaning of Nicol Meaning of Nichole Meaning of Nichol Meaning of Dominic Meaning of Cole Meaning of Nikita Meaning of Colette Meaning of Antonia Meaning of Hester Meaning of Hedwig Meaning of Elizabeth Meaning of Harry