Only A True Fan Can Name All Of The Women In How I Met Your Mother
- by Rose Moore
- – on
- in Movies and TV
How I Met Your Mother may seem like every other sitcom - a group of friends living it up in New York City. However, this series found its hook through the way it was told - as the main character, Ted, looks back on his life and describes the years that led up to him meeting his future wife and the mother of his children. The question of who, exactly, the 'mother' would be was sometimes front and center, but often barely mentioned, as fans followed Ted and his four best friends through the ups and downs of life in the big city.
And of course, the series also spends a lot of time on the women that Ted dates! From the one night stands and terrible decisions to the long-term relationships, engagements, and disappointments that Ted suffers, we got to meet dozens of women throughout the nine seasons of the show. We also met various women that Barney dated, the parents of the five friends, and their colleagues and other friends - which adds up to a whole lot of female characters over the years...
Are you a big enough fan of How I Met Your Mother to be able to remember and name all these ladies, from the main cast and the big relationships to the one-off appearances? Take our quiz and find out!
Who is married to Marshall?
Let's start with an easy one! Who is this feisty (if tiny) redhead who is one of the main characters of the series? She always wanted to be an artist, but ended up as a kindergarten teacher, married to her college sweetheart (Marshall). She lives with him and Ted for the early seasons, before they get married and find their own place, and even start a family. She and her best friend are the two main female characters in the HIMYM gang.
Who married Barney?
It's hard to believe that anyone would want to marry Barney, but hey, love is strange! This character is the second of the two main female characters in the series, and was originally Ted's love interest before she became part of the gang. She dated both Ted and Barney, and worked as a reporter and TV anchorwoman... but has a past as a pop star! Her time as a teen sensation and her Canadian nationality are often made fun of by the rest of the gang.
What's the name of Barney's mother?
Over the course of the series, we get to meet the parents (and even grandparents) of most of the core members of the HIMYM gang. That includes Barney's mother, who is certainly an interesting character. Although she now lives a quiet life in Long Island, looking forward to seeing her son on weekends, she makes no secret of the fact that she has a wild past - and that she used to be a groupie and have flings with every man she met!
Who was this baker?
Ted dated dozens of women over the course of the series, whether just for an evening or for something more serious - and this baker was definitely one of his bigger relationships (more than once!). The two originally met at a wedding, where they had a perfect night together... before deciding not to see each other again. However, Ted managed to track her down, and the two got together... before breaking up, and then getting back together when she ran away from her wedding to be with him!
Who was this co-worker of Robins?
Robin had a few different jobs over the course of the series, and many of her co-workers made appearances on the show, including this young woman that worked with Robin at World Wide News. Although she was a truly sweet and kind person, always baking cookies and going out of her way to help Robin with anything she needed... Robin absolutely hated her, and would routinely scream at her for basically no reason! In the end, however, she begrudgingly became her friend.
Who was this girlfriend of Barney's?
For most of How I Met Your Mother, Barney wasn't interested in relationships - in fact, he went out of his way to avoid them, and to stick to meaningless one night stands built on lies. However, when he met this girl on a double date, he fell in love... and the realized that he had already met her, because she worked at his favorite strip club, the Lusty Leopard! The two almost got married, but in the end, just weren't right for each other.
Who was this British lady?
For obvious reasons, most of the women of How I Met Your Mother are American (after all, the show takes place in New York City), but there are a few others here and there - like this lovely lady that Barney fell for. They met when she, Robin, and some other single female co-workers met to spend Valentine's Day together, and Barney was smitten from the moment he met her. However, Barney just wasn't ready for a relationship, and it didn't work out in the end.
Who was the waitress at MacLarens?
Any fan of How I Met Your Mother knows that the gang spends the majority of their free time at the bar below the apartment; MacLarens. There, we got to know the bartenders, as well as the waitress - this young woman. She even dated Barney for a short time, and was extremely professional after their breakup... and also made out with Ted's Dad at one point! She also meets Ted in a flash forward, revealing that she got married and had three kids.
Who was the titular mother?
The big question throughout the series was, of course, who would become the 'mother' of the title! Fans didn't get to find out until the final episodes, although there were plenty of hints dropped throughout the series, as Ted made connections with multiple people who would bring him closer to his one true love. In the end, the two met when she played in the wedding band at Robin and Barney's wedding, and then met Ted at the train station afterwards.
Who was the mother's roommate?
One of the many people that Ted meets along the way who also knew the mother was this young woman, who dated Ted for a short time - and was the mother's roommate. The two were both in Ted's first classroom (which turned out to be the wrong one!), and she found his mistake adorable. The two started dating, even though Ted was a professor and she was a student at the university, but broke up - and she later came out as gay.
Who was the girl that convinced Ted to settle down?
Although we knew from the start that Ted would settle down and have kids, and he was always talking about wanting to find the woman he would marry, he also had a lot of fun being single in the Big Apple. The woman who finally tipped the scales and got him seriously looking, though, was absolutely crazy. Their relationship started when she stalked him (although he didn't know it for a while), and ended with her trashing his apartment and throwing things out the window.
Who left Ted at the alter?
One of Ted's most serious relationships was with this blonde doctor, who he met when he was getting a tramp stamp tattoo removed (that was the result of a particularly drunken night). Although she said that she was too busy to date at first, Ted was able to win her over, and the two almost got married... until Ted brought her ex (and the father of her child) to the wedding... and she decided to leave with him and break Ted's heart.
What's the name of Ted's mother?
Ted's mother appears throughout the series - first, when she came to town with Ted's Dad, only for Ted to learn that the two were getting a divorce. Later, she got remarried to the incredibly annoying hippy, Clint, although Ted tried to be happy for the two of them. She was also part of a running joke throughout the series, when Barney told his best friend Ted that he had made out with her in the car on the way to the airport once.
Who was Robin's work rival?
Robin certainly has a history of disliking her female co-workers, especially when they are incredibly nice! During her stint on Come On, Get Up New York!, Robin got a new co-host in the shape of this incredibly bubbly blonde... who charmed everyone with her sweet nature and baby voice. Robin found her insufferable, however, because she acted like such a child... even though Ted thought it was endearing, and briefly dated her (much to the annoyance of Robin, of course!).
Who was married to the Captain?
Another big romance in Ted's life was with this blonde, who he had a love/hate relationship with. Although he fell for her, they met when he was working on a project to tear down the old Arcadian hotel - a run down building that used to be beautiful. This woman was campaigning to stop the destruction, and Ted ended up having to choose between her and his career... even after he learned that this activist was also a trophy wife to none other than The Captain.
Who was Ted's college girlfriend?
When Ted, Marshall and Lily were in college, Ted had a girlfriend that Marshall and Lily absolutely hated. This insufferable and pretentious girl wasn't just incredibly annoying to be around with her snobbish ways, she also routinely broke Ted's heart by coming to visit him, and then sleeping with someone else in his dorm room! She made a reappearance later in Ted's life, when he learned that she hadn't changed at all - and was still pretentious and a cheater.
Who was played by Katy Perry?
There have been a few famous faces on How I Met Your Mother over the years, including that of singer Katy Perry. Perry appeared as Zoey's cousin, that Zoey brought along to the pub to set up with Ted (although she ended up going home with Barney, instead). She was sweet girl, but Ted actually forgot her real name, as everyone called her something else... because she was just so incredibly naive that she would believe anything she heard, which got her into some trouble!
Who is this redhead?
Another one of the parents that we meet in the series are Marshall's. Unlike the other parents, though, Marshall's mom and dad are happily married - until the sad day that Marvin Erikson passes away (in an absolutely heartbreaking episode). Eventually, Marshall's mother does end up dating someone new... Lily's father! Obviously, the couple are disgusted to see their parents together, which makes for a lot of laughs on the series... And of course, this isn't the only thing that causes friction between Lily and her mother in law.
Who was this doctor?
When Lily and Marshal get pregnant, they find an obstetrician that they both love - and who seems extremely relaxed about the whole thing at the beginning. She tells Lily that it's ok if she has 'just a little bit' of all kinds of things that pregnant women are told to avoid, like wine, sushi, and cheetos. When it comes time to have the baby, however, this doctor leaves that relaxed demeanor behind to yell at Lily 'if you don't push, I'll shove this baby up your throat and pull it out of your mouth!'
Who married Punchy?
Marshal is often seen as Ted's oldest friend, but he has one other friend who he has known for even longer; Punchy. His schoolfriend from Cleveland, Punchy is still a part of Ted's life, and Ted is even best man at his wedding (and brings all his friends along for the ride). There, we meet Punchy's bride, a sweet woman (whose parents are not a fan of her groom)... and who Marshal accidentally reveals to be pregnant during the speeches!
Who is this author?
Another famous face comes to MacLarens when Jennifer Lopez has a guest spot on the show! She plays the author of the book 'Of Course You're Still Single, Take A Look At Yourself You Dumb Slut', and does an interview about the power of the word 'no' on Robin's morning show. Robin then asks her to 'crush' Barney, because she's hurt at how he treated her after they broke up... but it backfires when Barney figures out who she is.
Whose name did Ted think was fake?
When Ted became a professor of architecture, he worried about a lot of things in his first class... but never even expected what happened! When reading the sign up sheet, he came to a name that he assumed was made up, but actually turned out to be the real name of a quiet female student. She was so upset at his making fun of her name that she became the first student to quit his class (and the butt of many jokes at MacLarens).
Who is the ultimate girl next door?
Although she only appears for one episode, and never actually dates Ted, many fans remember the sweet story of the 'ultimate girl next door'. Ted was desperate to date her, but every time she was single, she got into a new relationship again almost immediately! Ted tried to get together with her for one night, but ended up seeing her get together with someone else... the ultimate boy next door. He was the one who grew up next to her, and the two eventually got married.
Who is also known as the slutty pumpkin?
How I Met Your Mother made fun of the ridiculousness of unnecessarily sexy Halloween costumes in this episode about a girl that Ted met at a Halloween party... and then searched for for years after! He knew her as the 'slutty pumpkin', because her costume was a pumpkin with some strategically placed cutouts for the eyes and mouth. Ted eventually found his slutty pumpkin, but after years of dreaming of her as the perfect girl, they just weren't right for each other.
Who did Barney lose his virginity to?
Barney has slept with over two hundred women (and he's pretty proud of that number), but he didn't actually lose his virginity until his twenties, when he went from being a quiet hippy to the suit-wearing player that we know and love. His first time, though, was with a friend of his mothers who used to babysit him and his brother as kids. She was known as a bit of a player herself, and even had the nickname of the Man Maker.