What Is Hattie Short For?

cute young girl in a party hat holding a balloon

Throughout my life I’ve never come across a girl or lady called Hattie. I don’t recall anyone with this name when I was at school, university or in my working life to date. Is Hattie not a popular name, or is it just my experience? And what is it short for? Let’s explore this in more detail in this article.

Where does Hattie come from?

Hattie is short for Harriet or Harriett. In fact, there are quite a few nicknames for Harriet such as Harry, Hettie, Harry, Hetty or even Etta or Ettie. Harriet comes from the French name Henriette, which itself is a female version of Henri (Henry). Going back further, Henry came from the German name Heimric.

What does it mean?

Taking Harriet as a given name, this means ‘home ruler’. If we take Heimric as the origins of this name, it has a similar meaning, heim-, which means ‘home’ and –ric, which means ‘power’.

Middle names that can work with Hattie

Here are some middle names to consider that work with Hattie (and Harriet if you choose this as a given name, which is usually the case). In general, I feel shorter middle names go well with Harriet as it offers a nice contrast and flow that follows a 3-syllable first name. For example, Harriet Jane flows quite nicely where as Harriet Olivia doesn’t quite work.

  • Harriet Ann
  • Harriet Ava
  • Harriet Clare
  • Harriet Emily
  • Harriet Eve
  • Harriet Grace
  • Harriet Jane
  • Harriet Louise
  • Harriet Marie
  • Harriet Rose

How popular is Hattie as a name?

chart showing how popular Hattie is as a name in the USA from 1900-2021
Source: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

In the USA, Hattie seems to have had a mini resurgence in recent years. It dropped out of the top 1000 in 1969, but since 2011 it has risen again and current finds itself in the top 500 names. These rises and falls over the years are very typical with names, although some disappear completely and some are consistently inside the top 50 (like Elizabeth).

In the UK, it is slightly more popular. Hattie is currently ranked 200 as of 2021

Famous Hattie’s

There aren’t too many celebrities with this name these days but here are some famous people called Hattie:

  • Hattie McDaniel (actress) – She was probably best known as playing Mammy in the classic movie Gone With The Wind. She was also the first African American actress to win an Oscar.
  • Hattie Caraway (politician) – She was the first woman to be elected as a US Senator for a full term.
  • Hattie Morahan (actress) – She has appeared in movies such as The Bank Job and The Golden Compass, as well as numerous TV series.
  • Hattie Alexander (pedatrician) – She was one of the first scientists to spot the dangers of antibiotic resistance.
  • Hattie Johnson (athlete) – She competed in the 2004 Olympic Game in Athens finishing in 14th place in the 10 metre air rifle competition.

Fictional characters called Hattie

  • Hattie McDoogal – She was an old lady in the animated series Futurama. I used to love this program. The robot called Bender used to crack me up all the time!
  • Hattie Tavernier – She was a character in the UK soap EastEnders in the early 90s.

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