Is Arrietty a daft name?

[Quasilulu]

I've fallen in love with it. Knock some sense into me please!

[mrsschu]

I know it's not made up but it sounds made up... Can't imagine it on a grown woman.

[austenozzy]

She'll have to explain it, or st least how to spell it, to everyone forever. She'll almost certainly hate it and won't thank you for it. She's a person, not a puppy or a doll.

[honeysucklejasmine]

I quite like it. She's a great character too, which is nice and makes the name even nicer IYSWIM. (Unlike whiny, annoying Wendy.)

[AtiaoftheJulii]

I like it, but would probably put Harriet on the birth certificate so she could keep her options open.

[BertrandRussell]

No Ariettys registered in the last 20 years, so the ones people know must be nicknames.

Go that route. Harriet- which is a fab name, with Arietty as a baby nickname she can reject when she's 4 or 5.

[sassytheFIRST]

The whole point about The Borrowers is that they got it wrong - they borrowed things from people which they adapted or misused. The names were misheard in the story! It's not like Aslan or Galadriel which were at least made up to sound strong and interesting. If you want your daughter to have a sweet name which is based on an error, go for it. But I'd make it a nickname - call her Harriet or Etta.

[Laquila]

That's strange, Bertrand - they're in the UK and I'm pretty sure the children were registered here. I can't see the mother using anything else on the cert - she's very proud of the name. Are all names on the ONS stats, even if they were only used once per year?

[OddBoots]

I'd be worried they would be called 'Ratty' as a nickname.

[Footle]

Arrietty's parents are Pod and Homily, also 'borrowed' names with a twist. And her cousin is Spiller, short for Dreadful Spiller which is what he remembers his late mother calling him.

[feelingmiffed]

I like it!

How about Ariadne?

[Spotsondots]

To those saying it was a made up name for the Borrowers, 'Wendy' was made up by JM Barry for 'Peter Pan'. Plenty of Wendys have been named since and no one bats an eyelid at that.

Having said that, it's not to my taste but I am more of a traditionalist.

[MerryMarigold]

No. It is 'owned' by the Borrowers and anyone that knows about them will think . It is pretty but it 'works' as an almost but not quite English name like Pod and Homily (her parents).

[LaContessaDiPlump]

no. Sorry but I'd find that ridiculous (and I do get its provenance).

Harriet, Henrietta, Ariadne - all much better!

[Footle]

But she's a great heroine - curious and feisty, with disastrous but exciting consequences.

[Footle]

Btw I know two people called Charlotte Webb - they've done well in life.

[Laquila]

I've just found 9 registered in the UK in 2012 and 15 in 2013. Sorry Bertrand, I'd assumed you were in the UK.

[MerryMarigold]

(And even if it wasn't a 'borrowed' name, it is a little bit twee on a grown up though v cute on a girl.) There are French names which are also similar to Arrietty, but 'proper':
Alouette
Juliette
Yvette
Odette
Violette

[TickleMyTeacakes]

Really daft.

Like Pollyanna.

[SoupDragon]

It is kind of pretty but, at the same time, it also looks and sounds slightly wrong.

[AskingForAPal]

There are some: names.darkgreener.com/#arrietty

Also ONS doesn't record if only 1 or 2 babies are called something, for privacy reasons.

If I met a baby Arrietty I would think of the Borrowers straightaway and imagine her parents were a bit loopy really liked the books. But the sound of the name is really pretty, so if you're super keen why not.

[Allalonenow]

Not bad as a nn for Harriet, but silly as a name on its own.
She will always be asked about spelling/is it from The Borrowers/is it her real name, it could blight her life poor child.

[mountaintoclimb]

Don't do it please. You can always use it as a nickname, so that you dc can decide whether she wants to use it permanently once she's old enough to decide.

[SecretlyChartreuse]

Shakespeare did create Imogen. The medieval name was Innogen.

[AnnaMarlowe]

Actually I think it's fine to use if you like it.

There are plenty of Wendy's out there.
She will have to explain it all her life but that's not necessarily a barrier - I have an unusual name myself and I'm quite happy to tell people where it comes from and spell it.

[TickleMyTeacakes]

Arietty sounds like it's being said by someone who drops their Hs.

'Arietty was 'aving an 'orrendous time in 'astings.'