Henrietta (given name)

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Henrietta

Henrietta Maria of France was the queen consort of England, wife of Charles I of England. The name Henrietta came into wider use in England due to her.
Gender Female
Origin
Word/Name Germanic
Meaning "home ruler"
Other names
Related names Harriet, Henry, Henrik
Look up Henrietta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Henrietta is a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry. The name is an English version of the French Henriette, a female form of Henri. A short version of the name is Harriet, which was considered the "spoken form" of Henrietta, much as Harry was considered the "spoken form" of Henry in medieval England.

All these names are derived from Henrik, which is ultimately derived from the Germanic name Heimiric, derived from the word elements heim, or "home" and ric, meaning "power, ruler." The male name Henry was first used in England by Normans.[1] Henrietta Maria of France (born Henriette-Marie de France), queen consort of Charles I of England, first inspired wide use of the name in England in the 17th century. Authors Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran noted in their book Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana that Henrietta is one of the most "thoroughly upper-class names" in use in England.[2]

Henrietta is no longer a widely used name in English-speaking countries, though its short form Harriet was the 73rd most popular name for baby girls born in England in 2007 and Henrietta was the 85th most popular given name for girls born in Hungary in 2005, perhaps inspired by Henrietta Ónodi, a top-ranked Hungarian gymnast. Both Henrietta and Harriet were last ranked in the top 1,000 most popular names for girls in the United States during the 1960s. Henrietta was the 446th most common name for females in the United States in the 1990 census.[3]

Famous bearers

Hetty Feather, fictional character

Feminine versions

Notes

  1. ↑ Behind the Name
  2. ↑ Rosenkrantz and Satran (2006), p. 209)
  3. ↑ Behind the Name
  4. ↑ Behind the Name

References

  • Rosenkrantz, Linda and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2006). Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-94095-9
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