Carlette
Feminine
Carlette is a feminine of Charles at two removes, and the most extraordinary woman to carry a version of it was an empress of Mexico who went to Europe to beg for help, was refused by everybody, and spent the last sixty years of her life mad in a Belgian castle while her husband was shot without her ever accepting that he was dead.
How old is the name Carlette?
Carlette first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Carlette alive today was born around 1966, making them about 59 years old. About 900 people named Carlette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Carlette most popular?
Carlette peaked in 1966, reaching #1669 nationally. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Charles gives the French diminutive Charlot and then Charlotte to Carlette
The story of Carlette
Charlotte of Belgium married an Austrian archduke who was offered the throne of Mexico by a French emperor who wanted a client state and by a handful of Mexican conservatives who wanted a monarchy. It went as badly as it could. When the French withdrew their troops she crossed the Atlantic to plead in Paris and Rome, collapsed into a paranoia she never came out of, and was shut away. Her husband was captured and shot; she outlived him by sixty years, and there are accounts of her rowing a toy boat on a pond, saying she was going to see the emperor.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The likeliest source is Carl or Charles with a French ending attached, which is how a great many American women's names were made; Charlotte cut short is also possible, and Charlotte is itself a double diminutive of Charles. Neither can be shown. The ending is French and marks a feminine, and it was being attached to almost any available front in the decades this name appears.
How the name formed
- Charles gives the French diminutive Charlot and then Charlotte
- an empress of Mexico carries the Italian and Spanish form
- American families attach a French ending to Carl
- Carlette appears in the record in the 1940s
- peaks in the middle 1960s
Related forms: Charlotte · Carlota · Carlotta
Pronouncing Carlette
kar-LET
Two syllables with the stress at the back, following the French ending. Some families front it, CAR-let, which sounds like a different name.
Nicknames for Carlette
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
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 196645 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1669reached in 1966
- Change vs 1996
- 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.
Carlette in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Charlotte in French — related form
- Carlota in Spanish — related form
- Carlotta in Italian — related form
Carlettes among us
people named Carlette 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
Carlette 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
- Carly and Lettie are both available and belong to different centuries.
- It is read correctly at sight and is genuinely uncommon.
- It carries one of the largest names in European history at one remove.
- It will be heard as Charlotte, Carlotta and Colette by turns.
- There is no settled origin, and the two candidates point in different directions.
- It is closely dated to the middle of the last century.
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Carlette
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Carlettes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Carlette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Carlette in 2025?
- Carlette is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Carlette with classmates?
- Carlette will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Carlette? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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