Hattie
Meaning of Hattie
Hattie—pronounced the sprightly “HAT-ee”—unfurls from Harriet and Henrietta, gentle cousins of the ancient Germanic Heinrich, “home ruler,” yet she long ago skipped out of formal parlors to twirl barefoot in her own sunshine, an independent spirit with a crown of wildflowers. In her syllables one hears a hint of castanets and laughter on a Spanish plaza, for the name rolls off the tongue like a quick paso doble: bright, brief, impossible to forget. She once graced countless telegrams and tintypes at the turn of the twentieth century, starred on vaudeville marquees, and even claimed cinematic immortality through the radiant Hattie McDaniel, the first Black actress to clutch an Oscar; then, like a flamenco dancer slipping behind velvet curtains, she rested in the wings until the new millennium beckoned her back. Parents now rediscover her vintage sparkle—those U.S. charts show a gentle but steady climb, as though modern families are tuning in to an old bolero and finding it wonderfully fresh. Cheerful, plucky, and a dash mischievous, Hattie suggests a child who can rule her “home” with kindness, serenade the dog, and still have sand between her toes by sunset; in short, a name that marries warm nostalgia with the promise of tomorrow’s fiesta.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as HAT-ee (/ˈhæti/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
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Notable People Named Hattie
| Hattie McDaniel, a trailblazing African American actress and entertainer, became the first African American Oscar winner for Gone with the Wind and was later honored with two Walk of Fame stars and a US postage stamp. |
| Hattie Caraway - Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway, United States Senator from Arkansas from 1931 to 1945, was the first woman elected to the Senate, the first to serve a full term and be reelected, and the first to preside, winning a full term in 1932 with Huey Long's support. |
| Hattie Elizabeth Alexander was an American pediatrician and microbiologist who developed the first effective treatments for Haemophilus influenzae, was among the first to study antibiotic resistance, led bacterial infection research at Columbia Presbyterian, and earned major awards before her death in 1968. |
| Hattie Carnegie, born Henrietta Kanengeiser in Vienna, was a New York fashion entrepreneur from the 1920s to the 1950s who adopted her surname in homage to Andrew Carnegie. |
| Hattie Maria Strong was an American philanthropist who funded hospitals, schools, and social services worldwide and received the French Legion of Honor for founding a 1927 retreat near Paris for wounded World War One soldiers. |
| Hattie Carthan was an American community activist and environmentalist who helped improve life in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. |
| Harriet Hattie Ngaire Shand is an Australian field hockey defender. |
| Hattie Hasan is a British plumber and CEO of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, a franchise for women in the plumbing trade. |
| Hattie Littles was an American soul singer best known for her 1963 single Your Love Is Wonderful on Motown’s Gordy label. |
