Scarlett
- Pronunciation
- [Scar-lett]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Red
- Origin
- English
About the Name Scarlett
Scarlett originated as an English occupational surname from Old French escarlate, meaning a high-quality dyed cloth (scarlet wool). The surname identified medieval families who dealt in scarlet textiles — a luxury trade requiring expensive imported dyes from kermes insects and later from cochineal. As a given name, Scarlett is largely a 20th-century invention, almost entirely traceable to a single bearer.
That bearer is Scarlett O'Hara, the headstrong protagonist of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and the 1939 film of the same name (Vivien Leigh's Oscar-winning portrayal). Scarlett O'Hara's iconic positioning — fierce, charming, manipulative, surviving the destruction of the antebellum South — gave the name a distinctive register that combines luxury (the scarlet cloth) with willful intensity. The name appears as both a first name and a middle name through subsequent generations of American naming.
Modern Scarlett's surge accelerated through the 2000s, propelled in part by actress Scarlett Johansson (born 1984, whose career through Marvel's Avengers films and dozens of acclaimed dramas anchored the name in 21st-century pop culture). The name climbed into the US top 25 girls' rank by 2020. The appeal is its layered glamour: the literary association, the color reference, two firm syllables, the suggestion of luxury without fragility. Common nicknames Scar, Scarlet, Lettie, and the rare Letty each carry their own register. The alternate spelling Scarlet (with one T) is the older English form. There are no significant international variants since the name's modern usage is essentially English-language.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Scarlett
US Popularity History (2000–2025)
Annual US births named Scarlett by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2017 with 7,719 girls named Scarlett (girl rank #18 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #32 for girls (5,644 US births). That's 14 places below its 2017 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Scarlett Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Scarlett the strongest states are Nevada, Ohio, Arizona.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | #15 | 706 |
| 2 | Ohio | #16 | 2,515 |
| 3 | Arizona | #17 | 1,643 |
| 4 | Nebraska | #18 | 478 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | #19 | 2,426 |
| 6 | West Virginia | #19 | 412 |
| 7 | Arkansas | #19 | 596 |
| 8 | Rhode Island | #19 | 229 |
| 9 | Indiana | #19 | 1,458 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | #20 | 775 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | #120 | 85 |
| 2 | Hawaii | #86 | 114 |
| 3 | South Dakota | #64 | 124 |
| 4 | Mississippi | #48 | 375 |
| 5 | Montana | #41 | 160 |
| 6 | Delaware | #37 | 152 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | #36 | 1,117 |
| 8 | Florida | #32 | 3,017 |
| 9 | Louisiana | #32 | 732 |
| 10 | Oregon | #30 | 642 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Scarlett in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet | Red | Female | English |
Looking for names like Scarlett?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Scarlett to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Scarlett against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Scarlett Baby Name Ideas
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With T: Keep the T Seam Clear Without Overcorrecting
- The Best Middle Names for Scarlett: Pairings That Balance a Crisp Final T
- Baby Names for Last Names With First-Syllable Stress: Building Rhythm After a Strong Opening Beat
- Baby Names for a One-Syllable Last Name: Adding Shape Without Making the Full Name Heavy
- Celebrity Baby Boy Names: A Trendy and Eclectic Selection
- Preppy Baby Names: Classic, Refined, and Timeless
- Southern Girl Names: Classic, Elegant, and Full of Charm
- 50 Cutest Names for Girls: Charming, Sweet, and Adorable Choices
- Names for Girls with Curly Hair: Embracing the Beauty of Curls
- Majestic Baby Names: A Collection of Regal and Grand Names for Your Little Ones
- Autumn Baby Names: Embracing the Beauty of the Season
- October Baby Names: Inspired by the Magic of Fall
- 20 Lightly Vintage Names For Girls
- 33 Colorful Baby Names Inspired By Colors
- 26 Elegant Girl Names For Your Pretty Baby Girls
- 200 Unique Pretty Girl Names For Your Beautiful Babies
- 100 Cool Southern Girl Names That Are Uncommon
- 100 Unique Pretty Girl Names For Your Beautiful Babies
- 20 Unique Fall-inspired Baby Names For Boys And Girls
- Best Pretty Girl Names To Empower Your Daughter