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$Title{Names for Girls:  H}
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Editors of Consumer Guide
Harder, Kelsey}
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The Ultimate Baby Name Book


Names for Girls:  H


Haley (see Hayley)

Halina (see Helen)

Hallie, Hally (see Hayley)

Hana, Hanna (see Hannah)

Hanka (see Jane)

Hannah             Hebrew "the Lord has favored me."  In the Bible, Hannah
                   was the mother of the prophet Samuel.  While many parents
                   prefer to name their daughter variations of this venerable
                   name, such as Ann or Anne, the old-fashioned sound of
                   Hannah fits well with the current interest in names from
                   the past.
    Famous names:  Hannah Arendt (historian)
                   Hana Mandlikova (tennis player)
 Other spellings:  Hana, Hanna
      Variations:  Ann, Anna, Anne, Annie, Grazyna (Polish), Hanne
                   (Norwegian), Hannele (German), Hannie, Hanny, Nan

Hanne (see Hannah)

Hannele (see Hannah)

Hannie, Hanny (see Hannah)

Harmony            Greek "agreement."

Harriet            Feminine form of Henry, Old German "ruler of an estate."
                   Harriet was a name of choice in the eighteenth and
                   nineteenth centuries, but unless you have a
                   great-grandmother Harriet, you may not want to choose this
                   fairly unpopular name.  It's difficult to tell whether the
                   name's strong association with the 1950s television series
                   The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet had a positive or
                   negative influence on this name.  Like other early
                   television situation comedies, the show depicted humorous
                   and touching events in the life of a happy American family.
                   While the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, is usually
                   considered to be the love of the poet Percy Bysshe
                   Shelley's life, he wrote the lovely poem "To Harriet" for
                   his first wife.
    Famous names:  Harriet Doerr (writer)
                   Harriet Beecher Stowe (author)
                   Harriet Tubman (civil rights activist)
                   Harriet Zuckerman (scholar)
  Other spelling:  Harriette
       Nicknames:  Hattie, Hatty
      Variations:  Harrietta, Henrietta, Henriette

Harrietta (see Harriet)

Harriette (see Harriet)

Hattie, Hatty (see Henrietta, Harriet)

Hayley             Norse haela, "heroine."
     Famous name:  Hayley Mills (actress)
 Other spellings:  Haley, Hallie, Hally

Haze (see Hazel)

Hazel              Old English haesel, "hazel tree."  The cartoon series Hazel
                   and its spin-off television show.  in which actress Shirley
                   Booth played an outspoken, wacky maid, ruined this name's
                   chances for popularity.  Like the name Abigail, which
                   dropped from use when it became associated with a lady's
                   maid in the seventeenth century, Hazel will sound like a
                   servant's name for a long time to come.
     Famous name:  Hazel Court (actress)
      Variations:  Aveline (French), Haze

Heath (see Heather)

Heather            Middle English hathir, "heather."
    Famous names:  Heather Locklear (actress)
                   Heather McCrae (actress)
                   Heather Watts (ballerina)
      Variations:  Heath, Hester

Heda (see Hedda)

Hedda              Variation of Old German Hedwig, "quarreling and
                   fighting."  Hedda sounds so much better than Hedwig that
                   it's not surprising this variation is used more frequently
                   in the United States than the original version of the name.
                   But it is still extremely rare and may be shadowed by its
                   association with Ibsen's dark play Hedda Gabler.
    Famous names:  Hedda Hopper (columnist)
                   Hedy Lamarr (actress)
  Other spelling:  Heda
      Variations:  Heddie, Hedwiga, Hedy

Heddie, Hedy (see Hedda)

Hedwiga (see Hedda)

Heide (see Heidi)

Heidi              Form of Adelaide.  The cheerful little Swiss girl in
                   Johanna Spyri's Heidi always comes to mind when you hear
                   this name.
     Famous name:  Heidi Landesman (set designer)
  Other spelling:  Heide

Helaine (see Helen)

Helana (see Helen)

Helen              Greek helene, "bright, fair, blonde, white."  The legend of
                   the beautiful Helen of Troy has caused parents to choose
                   this name for their daughters for thousands of years.  In
                   Homer's Iliad, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, the king of
                   Greece.  There are conflicting accounts about whether Helen
                   was stolen by Paris, the son of Priam who was king of Troy,
                   or whether she agreed to flee with him.  Since Helen had
                   been promised to Paris by the goddess Aphrodite, she may
                   not have had much choice in the matter.  But for whatever
                   reason Helen went off with Paris, the Greeks waged war on
                   the Trojans to get her back.  She was "the face that
                   launched a thousand ships."  St. Helena was the mother of
                   Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor who converted to
                   Christianity.  Helen also appears in Christopher Marlowe's
                   Dr. Faustus and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and
                   All's Well That Ends Well.  The name has always been
                   popular, although today it is used less often than at the
                   height of its popularity at the turn of the century.
    Famous names:  Helen Gurley Brown (publisher)
                   Helen Hayes (actress)
                   Helen Keller (author and educator)
                   Helen Thomas (journalist)
      Variations:  Ailene, Aileen (Irish), Ailleen, Eileen, Elaine, Elane,
                   Eleanor, Elena (Italian), Elene, Eleni (Greek), Eleonora
                   (German), Elinore, Ella, Ellen (Scottish), Ellene, Ellie,
                   Ellette, Elly, Ellyn, Elna, Elona, Elyn, Galina (Russian),
                   Halina (Polish), Helaine, Helana, Helena (Latin), Helene
                   (French and German), Helenka, Ileana, Ilene, Ilona
                   (Hungarian), Lana, Lena (Swedish), Lenka (Slavic), Lenora,
                   Lenore, Leonora, Leonore, Leora, Lina, Lora, Lorene, Nell,
                   Nellette, Nelliana, Nellie, Nelly, Nora, Norah, Olena
                   (Russian)

Helena             Variation of Helen.
     Famous name:  Helena Sukova (tennis player)

Helene (see Helen)

Helenka (see Helen)

Helga (see Olga)

Helma (see Wilhelmina)

Helmine (see Wilhelmina)

Heloise            French form of Louise.  The letters exchanged between
                   Heloise and Abelard, a twelfth-century philosopher, are
                   among the most-beautiful expressions of love ever written.
                   Heloise was Peter Abelard's student; they fell in love, but
                   her family was opposed to their marriage.  After they
                   secretly wed, her uncle had Peter castrated.  He entered a
                   monastery, and she became a nun, but the two lovers
                   continued to write each other until their deaths.

Hendrika (see Henrietta)

Henrie (see Henrietta)

Henrietta          Feminine form of Henry, Old German "ruler of an estate."
     Famous name:  Henrietta Green (financier)
        Nickname:  Etta
      Variations:  Eiric (Scottish), Enrica, Enrichetta (Italian), Enriqueta
                   (Spanish), Ettie, Harriet, Hattie, Hatty, Hendrika (Dutch),
                   Henrie, Henriette (French), Henrika (Swedish), Hettie,
                   Hetty, Nettie, Yetta

Henriette (see Harriet)

Henrika (see Henrietta)

Hera               Greek "lady."  In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of
                   Zeus and a powerful goddess in her own right.  She spent
                   much of her time punishing her husband's many mortal
                   lovers.

Hermandine (see Erma, Irma)

Hermia             Greek "of the earth."
      Variations:  Hermine, Hermione

Hermina (see Hermione)

Hermine (see Hermia, Hermione)

Herminia (see Hermione)

Hermione           Variation of Old German Armina, "warrior maid."
                   There are two legendary Hermiones:  the daughter of Mars
                   and Venus, who was turned into a serpent; and the daughter
                   of Helen of Troy and Menelaus.
     Famous name:  Hermione Gingold (actress)
      Variations:  Erma, Hermia, Hermina, Hermine, Herminia

Herta (see Eartha)

Hertha (see Eartha)

Hesketh (see Hester)

Hester             Variation of Persian Ester, "star."  Hester Prynne, the
                   heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, who
                   was forced by her Puritan community to wear a badge of
                   adultery, may give this lovely old name an unpleasant
                   association.
      Variations:  Essie, Estella, Estra, Heather, Hesketh, Hestera, Hestia,
                   Star

Hestera (see Hester)

Hestia (see Hester)

Hetruda (see Gertrude)

Hettie, Hetty (see Ester, Henrietta)

Hilaria (see Hilary)

Hilaritta (see Hilary)

Hilary             From the Latin hilaria, "cheerful."
     Famous name:  Hilary Bailey-Smith (actress)
  Other spelling:  Hillary
      Variations:  Hilaria (French), Hilaritta, Hilirii, Ilaria (Russian),
                   Ilaris, Milari, Ularia

Hild (see Hilda)

Hilda              Old English hild, "war"; or Old German "battle maid."
                   Hilde was a Teutonic war goddess, who was honored with the
                   very old name Hildegarde.  Hilda, which started out as a
                   nickname, is still used occasionally today, while
                   Hildegarde has almost been forgotten.  Rosalind Russell
                   created a flashy cinematic Hildy in His Girl Friday, in
                   which she goes head to head with Cary Grant in a witty
                   battle of the sexes.
     Famous name:  Hilda Doolittle (poet known as H.D.)
       Nicknames:  Hildie, Hildy
      Variations:  Hild, Hilde (Norwegian)

Hilde, Hildie, Hildy (see Hilda)

Hilirii (see Hilary)

Hillary (see Hilary)

Hirena (see Irene)

Hollie (see Holly)

Holly              Old English holegn, "holly."  Holly used to be a popular
                   name for girls born on Christmas, but parents now give this
                   cheerful-sounding name to girls born at other times of the
                   year.  American writer Truman Capote dubbed the
                   sophisticated waif who is the heroine of his story
                   Breakfast at Tiffany's Holly Golightly.
    Famous names:  Holly Hunter (actress)
                   Holly Near (singer)
  Other spelling:  Hollie

Honey              Old English honig, "sweet"; also, a variation of Honor.
                   This term of endearment is often used as a given name.

Honor              Latin "honorable."
     Famous name:  Honor Blackman (actress)
      Variations:  Honey, Honoria, Nora, Norah

Honoria (see Honor)

Hope               Old English hopian, "hope."  The Puritans liked to give
                   their children names that they should live up to, and as
                   one of the three virtues, Hope was a common girls' name in
                   seventeenth century England and America.  While names like
                   Faith and Charity are not often used today, Hope has
                   remained somewhat popular.  On the television series
                   thirtysomething, actress Mel Harris plays a character named
                   Hope.
     Famous name:  Hope Lange (actress)

Hortencia (see Hortense)

Hortense           Latin feminine form of Hortensius, a Roman family
                   name, possibly meaning "gardener."
      Variations:  Artensia, Hortencia, Hortensia, Jortensia, Ortensia
                   (Italian)

Hortensia (see Hortense)

Hyacinth           Greek "purple."  This "flower" name is very unusual.

Hypatia            Greek "highest, surpassing."