Arnette
Feminine
Arnette is given to both — 1,055 girls and 33 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Arnette is a French-looking name that America used for daughters and sons alike, and its best-known modern bearer is a war correspondent who became famous for not leaving. When every other Western journalist was pulled out of Baghdad in the first hours of the bombing, Peter Arnett stayed and reported from a hotel room.
How old is the name Arnette?
Arnette first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Arnette alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 700 people named Arnette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arnette most popular?
Arnette peaked in 1948, reaching #1598 nationally. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Germanic name element and a French ending to Arnette
The story of Arnette
The reporting from Baghdad in the winter of 1991 changed what a war looked like on television. Arnett was one of a handful of journalists left in the city, filing by satellite phone from a hotel while the bombs fell, and his broadcasts were carried live around the world — including in the country doing the bombing, which had never happened before. He was accused of being used by the regime and defended by his editors, won a Pulitzer for earlier work in Vietnam, and was eventually dismissed years later over an interview given to Iraqi television. Nobody has ever accused him of leaving early.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Two routes are open. The name may be a feminine built on Arnold or Arne with the French ending that American naming used freely on any front it liked. It may equally be a French or Huguenot surname moved to the front, which is how a great many American first names of this shape arrived. The record carries it for both sexes from the beginning, which slightly favors the surname reading, since surname-names are rarely gendered at first.
How the name formed
- a Germanic name element and a French ending
- Arnett established as a surname in France and America
- used as an American first name from the 1900s
- recorded for daughters and sons alike
- a war correspondent makes the surname famous
Related forms: Arnaud · Arnett · Arnhold
Pronouncing Arnette
ar-NET
Two syllables with the stress at the back, following the French ending. Some families front it, AR-net, which is how the surname is usually said.
Nicknames for Arnette
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1907
- Most girls named
- 195832 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1598reached in 1948
- Change vs 1990
- 0.0%5 in 1998, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Arnette in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arnaud in French — related form
- Arnett in English — spelling variant
- Arnhold in German — related form
Arnettes among us
people named Arnette are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Arnette sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Arnie and Nettie are both available and belong to different worlds entirely.
- It works for a child of either sex, and the record carries it on both sides.
- It is genuinely rare while sounding entirely ordinary.
- There is no settled origin, and the two candidates point in different directions.
- The stress placement is unsettled between the surname and the French readings.
- It is firmly of the first half of the last century in American use.
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What they receive
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Arnette
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Arnettes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Arnette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arnette in 2025?
- Arnette is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Arnette with classmates?
- Arnette will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arnette? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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