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11-21-2012 at 9:07 AM
beebanjo
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Harriet

Hello! I'd like to get some honest feedback on the name Harriet. Do you hate it/love it/would a girl get made fun of because of the whole "hairy" thing?

I am really starting to love it, but it's the one name on our list that I have no idea what people think of or how they will react to it. 

So... what's your impression of and initial reaction to Harriet?

 
11-21-2012 at 9:10 AM
SarahL77
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I like it. I wouldn't have thought "Hairy".

I do think of an old show called "Harriet's Magic Hats", though, that no one but me has ever heard of lol.

11-21-2012 at 9:18 AM
TheWop
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I do not like this name.  At all.  It just sounds ugly. What about Henrietta? 

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11-21-2012 at 9:31 AM
TysMomPlus...
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Hate it, it's not a pretty name in anyway to me. I do think your DD would have a hard time and be a little jealous of the girls with 'prettier' names. She may grow to love it though. 

 
11-21-2012 at 9:44 AM
Sarahidea
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nice. however, it sounds old.
 
11-21-2012 at 10:07 AM
Joy2611
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I really really don't like it.

I don't care about the "hairy" thing - that doesn't even cross my mind - I just don't like the sound of the name.  I kinda shove Harriet in the same grouping as Gertrude - old, but not ready for a comeback now ...or ever.

11-21-2012 at 10:11 AM
bsinno
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i really love this name! (but if you ask my husband he will tell you i like ugly names!) i think of a sweet & spunky girl who grows up into a sweet and spunky old lady. Harriet the Spy was one of my favorite books growing up

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11-21-2012 at 10:29 AM
oliversmom...
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I LOVE THE NAME! I always think of the show Small Wonder from the 80's. 

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11-21-2012 at 10:36 AM
beebanjo
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bsinno:
i really love this name! (but if you ask my husband he will tell you i like ugly names!) i think of a sweet & spunky girl who grows up into a sweet and spunky old lady. Harriet the Spy was one of my favorite books growing up

 

Yeah, I think that's why I love it too. I think of a strong adventurous spunky girl  like Harriet the Spy. I can see where the ugly mean old lady image comes from though.

It's weird because it is in the top 100 in England/Wales, but here in the US its not even in the top 1000 and hasn't been for many years. Maybe it just sound better with an English accent? Big Smile  Of course that probably has something to do with prince Harry, too.

 
11-21-2012 at 10:47 AM
mimi4347
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I love Harriet the Spy, but I couldn't get on board with this name. My aunt had a cat named Harriet, who started out as a stray with so much matted fur they couldn't determine the sex - so they called the cat "Hairy It." Even on a cute, spunky girl with a normal amount of hair, I shudder to think of the nicknames that would inevitably follow. 
11-21-2012 at 10:50 AM
oliversmom...
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Wow the answers from this board have surprised me! Usually the "old lady" names get a pretty receptive response. I personally am usually not a huge fan of the super "old lady" names but I actually like Harriet. Haha go figure.

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11-21-2012 at 11:15 AM
queenbone
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I dislike Harriet because of hairy, but I love it's NN Hattie.

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11-21-2012 at 11:16 AM
MrsWindyCi...
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I'm not a fan of Harriet. I just don't like the sound of it. I'm usually huge on old lady names, but I can't get behind this one.

It does make me think of So I Married an Axe Murderer, though. :P 


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11-21-2012 at 12:02 PM
Crys1925
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I guess I'm in the minority, but before I even clicked to read the first post, I thought, "Hairy."
 
11-21-2012 at 1:47 PM
MissHoppy
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TysMomPlusOne:
Hate it, it's not a pretty name in anyway to me. I do think your DD would have a hard time and be a little jealous of the girls with 'prettier' names. She may grow to love it though. 

I think this is an important point.  A Harriet will really stand out in a sea of Avas, Sophias, Olivias, and Isabellas -- maybe more than she wants to.

What about Henrietta or Helena?


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11-21-2012 at 6:43 PM
MrsJ723
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It makes me think of mean Harriet Olsen from Little House on the Prairie (Nellie's mom). I have to agree that it is one of the harsher "old lady" names, like Bertha or Gertrude.  I love Henrietta though!


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11-21-2012 at 7:25 PM
lcspecial
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So I married an axe murderer was my first thought..."Harriet...sweet Harriet"

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11-21-2012 at 10:05 PM
Moidonna
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MrsJ723:

It makes me think of mean Harriet Olsen from Little House on the Prairie (Nellie's mom). I have to agree that it is one of the harsher "old lady" names, like Bertha or Gertrude.  I love Henrietta though!

This!


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11-21-2012 at 10:43 PM
lukafoo74
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I want to like it. I see where you are coming from, but it just isn't working for me. What about something like Haddie?

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11-22-2012 at 6:30 AM
ebille
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I like the name Harriet, I like old lady names though and would find it cute and refreshing on a little girl today. That being said, I have an Aunt Harriet, she's 50, and she has told me stories of how she hated her name growing up in school, and tried to change it and get people to call her something else. I think she likes it now though.

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11-22-2012 at 7:53 AM
beebanjo
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Thanks for the feedback everyone! This has helped me officially cross if off the list I think. I don't really care that it won't 'fit in' with the most popular names of the generation, but I do care that people think it is ugly sounding/unappealing. I will reserve it as a guilty pleasure name and/or a future dog/cat/fish name :)

I love Hattie, but to me it is a nickname for Harriet/Henrietta and I prefer to use full names as given names. I also am a bit picky in girls names ending in the -ie sound, they're cute on a little girl or as a NN but I don't think they age very well. I also love Henrietta but our last name is 4 syllables so a 4 syllable first name is just too much of a mouthful, and it just sounds bad.

Oh well, there are plenty of other less hated names that I love!

 
11-22-2012 at 9:21 AM
destroying...
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The first thing I think of is the book Harriet the Spy, then Harriet Tubman. 

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11-22-2012 at 3:01 PM
kim1989
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I like it, it was one of our possible choices when we were trying to find names for DD 

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11-23-2012 at 2:34 AM
guilletski...
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Not a fan at all. My mom, Marlene Harriet, was named after her parents, Mary and Harry. She disliked her middle name in a terrible way.

I've considered Harrison for boy's name but I have trouble with it because I associate the name with the word "hairy" as much as I do with the fact that it was my maternal grandfather's name. Same goes for Harriet.

I just can't get on board with it.


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11-23-2012 at 2:23 PM
Guillerma
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It's on our name with the man Hattie. I love it! I think it may become more popular, people were saying the same thing about other old last names like Evelyn and Eleanor until recently.


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11-23-2012 at 4:13 PM
KateMW
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I love it. DD has a friend in her class named Harriet. Her nm is Hattie. It's old fashioned, but it's way better than all the trendy names out there.

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