Harriet

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 10 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Harriet is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Akan given name82K records spelled Harriet4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ghana, Kenya, United States, Zambia

  Languages: Akan, Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Harriët

• Spanish given name28K records spelled Harriet6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Harriët, Hãrriêt

• a separate given name15K records spelled Harriet4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Zambia

  Also written Harriët, Härriet, Harrie͏̈t

• Finnish given name9.3K records spelled Harriet4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Sweden, Estonia

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Harriët, Härriet

• French given name7.7K records spelled Harriet3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, United Kingdom, Gabon

  Also written Harriët, Harrie͏̈t

• Indonesian given name1.6K records spelled Harriet3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Harriët

62 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Harriet is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Anglicized form of French Henriette, a feminine diminutive of Henry (French Henri) coined in the 17th century. It was quite common in

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from the Germanic languages.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Harriet är en engelsk form av franskans Henriette (→ Henrietta). Det kom till Sverige via västsvenska kontakter med Storbritannien. En känd namnbärare är poeten och konstnären Harriet Löwenhjelm (1887–1918). I den rikssvenska almanackan 10 okto ber och i den finlandssvenska 6 januari.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In German, ['haenat]: im 19. Jh. aus dem Englischen übernommener weibl.

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In German, Harriet Beecher-Stowe, amerikanische Schriftstellerin

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Harriet Martineaub. 1802GBEnglish writer and sociologist (1802–1876)
• Harriet Taylor Millb. 1807GBBritish philosopher (1807–1858)
• Harriet Beecher Stoweb. 1811USAmerican abolitionist and author (1811–1896)
• Harriet Tubmanb. 1821USAfrican-American abolitionist (1822–1913)
• Harriet Laneb. 1830USFirst Lady of the United States from 1857 to 1861
• Irene Worthb. 1916USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (1916–2002)
• Harriet Anderssonb. 1932SESwedish actress (born 1932)
• Harriet Harmanb. 1950GBBritish politician (born 1950)
• Harriet Walterb. 1950GBBritish actress (born 1950)
• Harriet Sansom Harrisb. 1955USAmerican actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 803 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Harriet?

We estimate roughly 41 thousand people bear Harriet (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Harriet have the most bearers?

Harriet is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled harriet.

Where is Harriet most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Harriet is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 1.4 thousand people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Harriet compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Harriet is the 422nd most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Harriet a male or female name?

Harriet is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Harriet mean?

Recorded meaning: Teutonic; ruler of the home; feminine form of Harry/Henry