French feminine form of Harry/Henri, from Germanic 'heim' (home) and 'ric' (ruler), meaning estate ruler.
Harriette is the elaborated, French-influenced spelling of Harriet, itself the English feminine of Harry — a medieval English pet form of Henry, derived from the Germanic *Heimrich*, composed of *heim* (home) and *ric* (ruler, power). The name thus ultimately means something like "ruler of the household" or "home power," a meaning that its most distinguished bearers have interpreted with impressive literalness. The *-ette* suffix, borrowed from French diminutive tradition, was fashionable in English from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries as a way of feminizing and elevating names; it gave Harriette a more formal, Continental elegance than the plainer Harriet.
The broader Harriet/Harriette family is inseparable from Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896), whose novel *Uncle Tom's Cabin* (1852) helped shift American public opinion on slavery and whose impact Abraham Lincoln supposedly acknowledged when he called her "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." Equally towering is Harriet Tubman (c. 1822–1913), the abolitionist and freedom fighter whose network of escape routes helped hundreds of enslaved people reach freedom, making the name synonymous with courage and liberation in American memory.
The *-ette* spelling specifically was popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, adding a layer of refinement and occasionally appearing in more formal or literary contexts. Today Harriet is enjoying a strong revival in Britain and the United States, while Harriette remains the rarer, more distinctive variant — appealing to parents who want the name's rich history but with a slightly more ornate signature.