How to honor the name Henrietta?

teacherjess

I am not pregnant with #2 yet, but the baby fever is starting to kick into gear and I'm starting to think names here...

My Aunt Henrietta died a couple of years back and I'd love to honor her somehow by a middle name as she was a wonderful person. However, I can't stand the name Henrietta with any pairing of names...plus, she hated her name and went by "Hetta." I don't like Henri, Etta, Hetta, or Hettie. Plus, none of those sound remotely nice with the first names we are thinking of (specifically, Lauren or Caroline). Any other suggestions of what I could do with this name to honor her?

SharonWantsABaby

You could use Arietta - it has the same origin and meaning as Henrietta. GL!

doremi29

SharonWantsABaby:

You could use Arietta - it has the same origin and meaning as Henrietta. GL!

This!!  It goes well with your plans for a first name. 

magsugar13

Well, how do you know it would be a girl?

Ria? Henri?

If it is a boy Henry is the answer.

IMO changing a name so much that it is completely different isnt honoring the name anymore.

2bmrs.g

I agree that changing the name so that it is a completely different name is no longer honoring the original person.  What about Henrietta as a middle name if you're not crazy about it? 

2bmrs.g

Oops, I just re-read and saw that you already plan to use it as a middle name.  Sorry...sleep deprivation!

I do still think that it should be as close to Henrietta as possible for it to serve as a tribute.  Arietta is a nice option.

shopgirl_07

If she hated her name, are you really honoring her by using it? Seems to me she wouldn't want to be "honored" that way. Did she have a middle name? What about her last name? I've known people who have really hated their name and they in no way would want their name passed down to a child.

strangebird

feffy11:

shopgirl_07:

If she hated her name, are you really honoring her by using it? Seems to me she wouldn't want to be "honored" that way. Did she have a middle name? What about her last name? I've known people who have really hated their name and they in no way would want their name passed down to a child.

In with this, I thought I'd go along with other ways to honor her. What was her birth month? Did she have a favorite flower/gemstone? A color that reminds you of her? PP is right. If she hated her name, it seems odd to choose a namesake.

All of this. Did she have children? What names did she give them--it's reasonable to assume that she loved those names, perhaps you could use one of them and honor her in that way. 

Also, an obscure suggestion: Henrietta contains the letters for the words heart and earth. As a word name addict, I actually think it would be adorable to name your daughter Caroline or Lauren Heart Lastname. It's a solid name, has a deep meaning and would come with a great name story.

ktdelaney

A friend of mine was in a similar situation and used Hannah so that it was an H, but she didn't have to use a name she didn't love.  It takes some explanation to figure out it is in honor of your aunt, but it is still a nice way to honor someone.

kbratton2king

If you hate Henrietta and your aunt did too, that should tell you something. Please don't name your daughter this. Some of the other suggestions are great ideas: using H as an initial, birth month, etc.

hollyberry3333

ChoicesMom:

strangebird:

feffy11:

shopgirl_07:

If she hated her name, are you really honoring her by using it? Seems to me she wouldn't want to be "honored" that way. Did she have a middle name? What about her last name? I've known people who have really hated their name and they in no way would want their name passed down to a child.

In with this, I thought I'd go along with other ways to honor her. What was her birth month? Did she have a favorite flower/gemstone? A color that reminds you of her? PP is right. If she hated her name, it seems odd to choose a namesake.

All of this. Did she have children? What names did she give them--it's reasonable to assume that she loved those names, perhaps you could use one of them and honor her in that way. 

Also, an obscure suggestion: Henrietta contains the letters for the words heart and earth. As a word name addict, I actually think it would be adorable to name your daughter Caroline or Lauren Heart Lastname. It's a solid name, has a deep meaning and would come with a great name story.

Oh and I love the Heart suggestion!

 

What a great idea, the HEART suggestion! Love it

PoetSorrow

I was going to suggest the Heart thing too. I love anagrams. And it's very meaningful.

You also have Rae in there and Rhea, Tina, Tea, And if you fudged an extra A you could do Athena. 

You could also do Hanna without the H on the end and you'd have a name starting and ending with the same letters so it would still honor her.

teacherjess

You guys are very creative...I love these ideas. I guess I hadn't really thought about the fact that it wasn't honoring her if she didn't like her name. I don't have many choices on choosing other things-- she didn't have a middle name, and her maiden name was Polish and very long, while her married name was distinctly Hispanic (like Ortiz, but not). I like the Heart idea, as well as the Hannah idea. Just tossing around some thoughts....I'll probably end up with a boy and I can just go with Henry .