to consider [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] for a girl when I already have a [name_m]Henry[/name_m]? [name_m]Henry[/name_m] would have been [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] if he had been a girl and I still love the name (I’m not currently pregnant but baby no.3 is under discussion!)
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f] is the female version of [name_m]Harry[/name_m] which in turns comes from [name_m]Henry[/name_m], or the English variation of [name_m]French[/name_m] [name_f]Henriette[/name_f], which of course also comes from [name_m]Henry[/name_m].
Hmmm. Someone recently asked about [name_m]Felix[/name_m] and [name_f]Felicity[/name_f], which is way too close, but somehow I’m hesitant on this one.
I mean yes, technically [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] and [name_f]Henrietta[/name_f] are the same name, but they feel so different. I’d be totally okay with [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] as a middle name, and to be honest I didn’t realize the connection until you mentioned it. It wouldn’t bother me on someone else’s kid, though I’d be amused, but it would bother me on my kid.
Too close…I’m annoyed at my parents lack of originality in naming me [name_u]Robin[/name_u] when I had a 2 yr old cousin named [name_m]Robert[/name_m] (w/the same surname). Your daughter deserves her own name.
I don’t think you’re crazy, because they’re both lovely names, but I do think they’re too close to work on siblings. I would probably be a bit annoyed in the back of my mind if I met siblings named [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_f]Harriet[/name_f].
I wouldn’t use them together as a first names, although I like [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] as a middle name. They’re both lovely so I understand why you want to use them!
Good [name_m]Luck[/name_m]!
In my own opinion they are too close to work on siblings. I don’t think many people would be aware of the connection between [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] and [name_m]Henry[/name_m].
But why would you be amused if the names feel so different and you didn’t know about the connection?
It’s funny that people would feel annoyed by it, I never expected that reaction! And just to clarify, if we did go ahead and name our daughter [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] it WOULD be her own name because we are not choosing it as a derivative of [name_m]Henry[/name_m] (who never goes by the name [name_m]Harry[/name_m] FWIW), but rather because we adore the name and have been yearning to use it. It’s so hard to shake it once you fall in love with a name I think.
That said, I completely take on board and appreciate your responses that the names seem to close - it is as I suspected sadly! Sob
Absolutely not…I’m a [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] and actually would have liked a brother called [name_m]Luke[/name_m]/ [name_m]Lucas[/name_m]/ [name_m]Lucian[/name_m] etc etc. Now that is “too close” to quote some posts from earlier. On hearing the name [name_f]Harriet[/name_f], no non-berry would have a clue that it is linked to [name_m]Henry[/name_m]…maybe those from a generation or two before you, but that’s it.
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f] is lovely, you’ve loved it since forever; [name_m]Henry[/name_m] & [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] are great names for a brother and sister! [name_m]How[/name_m] many people in a year are going to say to you “Hey, did you name your daughter the female version of [name_m]Henry[/name_m]?”…I’m confident in saying ‘None’. If the topic comes up and you feel you have to explain the origins, your story is not a bad one!
The more I look at [name_m]Henry[/name_m] & [name_f]Harriet[/name_f], the more I like it.
Thank you both! Maybe people are put off by the “matchy” H names rather than the origin? I have an [name_f]Agatha[/name_f] too and I always imagined [name_f]Aggie[/name_f] and [name_f]Hattie[/name_f] playing together - I just can’t deny that [name_f]Aggie[/name_f], [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_f]Hattie[/name_f] are a cute subset!
I actually did realize the connection. [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Harry[/name_m]'s real name is [name_m]Henry[/name_m] so I was aware that [name_m]Harry[/name_m] is a short form of [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and thereby [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] is a feminization of [name_m]Henry[/name_m].
I saw a question about ‘which feminization of [name_m]Henry[/name_m] do you prefer?’ the other day and I think a good bit of people would be aware of the connection.
I am not put off by the fact that they begin with the same letter, more so of the fact that I consider them to be variations of the same name.
However, you won’t be the first or the last person to do it or consider doing it as my grandmother named her daughters variations of the same name. Some people are also less original and give all their children the same name… Like [name_m]George[/name_m] Foreman who gave all his children (boys and girls) the first name [name_m]George[/name_m] to carry on the legacy.
It is not unheard of so I can understand why you would want to do it… however for me it is too close for comfort.
[name_m]Way[/name_m] too close. I disagree with the previous poster who said no one outside nameberry would notice. Everyone won’t but some people would.
I think it’s way too close. The names both have the same meaning and share the same first initial. It might just be me but feels like it would be taking away the individuality of each child by making them have names that are so “matching”.
I wasn’t ignorant of [name_m]Harry[/name_m]/[name_f]Harriet[/name_f]/[name_f]Henrietta[/name_f] all coming from [name_m]Henry[/name_m], I just hadn’t been thinking of it that way. Now that I’ve made the connection, if ever I meet a [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] it’ll make me smile. I’ll wonder if the parents chose the names because of, in spite of, or without knowing the connection. They’re sweet names, and I like the way they sound together with [name_f]Aggie[/name_f].
But it’d be like seeing a [name_f]Tamsin[/name_f] and [name_m]Tom[/name_m] sibset; most people won’t know that the less-common [name_f]Tamsin[/name_f] comes from [name_f]Thomasina[/name_f] and [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], but I’ll know, and it’d make me grin. It’s pleasantly amusing to me, an “oh, how funny!” reaction with a genuine smile.
Since you love it, it wouldn’t bother me and in fact I’d encourage you to go for it. At least as a middle, maybe as a first. They’ll be grownups most of their lives anyway.
[name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_f]Harriet[/name_f]…pretty well the same name but different genders. I would advise against it. You could still used [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] in the middle spot.