Scarlet
Feminine · “the bright red color”
Scarlet began as the name of a costly cloth traded into medieval Europe, and only later settled onto the red of the dye it usually wore. It reaches English ears as an ordinary word — two clean syllables, stress up front, nothing to explain at a roll call — while carrying a long trail behind it through Old French, medieval Latin and the cloth markets further east.
How old is the name Scarlet?
Scarlet first appears in US birth records in 1939 — 86 years ago. The typical Scarlet is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 17,500 people named Scarlet are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Scarlet most popular?
Scarlet peaked in 2013, reaching #370 nationally. Today it ranks #509, 139 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Scarlet appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From scarlatum (medieval Latin) to Scarlet
The story of Scarlet
The word came into medieval Latin as scarlatum and Old French as escarlate, naming an expensive imported cloth; English had it as scarlet by the Middle Ages, by then chiefly for the color. It also became a surname for the people who made, dyed or sold that cloth, which is the road the double-t Scarlett traveled. Margaret Mitchell's Civil War novel and the film made from it put Scarlett O'Hara in front of an enormous audience, and the given name followed. The single-t spelling is simply the dictionary spelling of the color word.
Meaning
the bright red color; originally a rich cloth
The word first named a fine, expensive fabric rather than a shade — the cloth could be other colors — and narrowed to the red itself over the medieval period. Both readings are part of the same documented history, not competing guesses.
How the name formed
- scarlatummedieval Latin
- escarlateOld French
- scarletMiddle English
- ScarlettEnglish surname
- Scarlet
Related forms: Scarlett · Scarlette · Scarleth · Escarlata
Pronouncing Scarlet
SKAR-let
Two syllables, stress on the first, exactly like the color word. Almost no American reader hesitates over it, and there is no second accepted pronunciation to correct.
Nicknames for Scarlet
High
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
- 1939
- Most girls named
- 2011864 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #370reached in 2013
- Change vs 2023
- −12.5%581 in 2025, from 664
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.
Scarlet in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Scarlett in English — spelling variant
- Scarlette in English — spelling variant
- Scarleth in Spanish (Latin America) — spelling variant
- Escarlata in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Scarlets among us
people named Scarlet are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,766 born in 2025 was named Scarlet
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Scarlet
- #509
- Scarlet on the 2025 chart
- #26
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Scarlet went to 581 girls in 2025, but Scarlett and Skarlett are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 6,311, which makes it the 26th most-given girls’ name of the year — 483 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 255 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 2,766 for Scarlet itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Mckayla test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Scarlet's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mckayla climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mckayla's path sketches the road Scarlet is walking now.
Scarlet sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Scarlet is headed
Scarlet should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Scarlet beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Scarlet in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone already knows how to say it — it is an English word before it is a name, so it survives phone calls and substitute teachers intact.
- Short, stress-first, and easy to say alongside most surnames.
- Has real short forms available — Lettie and Letty — without depending on them.
- Works across English- and Spanish-speaking families, where the Scarleth spelling is also in use.
- The double-t Scarlett is the more widely recognized spelling, thanks to Scarlett O'Hara and to Scarlett Johansson. Choosing the single-t version means a lifetime of gentle corrections — not hard ones, but frequent.
- Scarlett O'Hara comes attached to Gone with the Wind, a book and film long criticized for how they portray slavery and the Confederacy. Most people won't make the connection; some will, and it's better to have thought about it first.
- English keeps a few old phrases in circulation — the biblical "scarlet woman", and scarlet fever. Neither is much heard now, but the word carries them.
- It is a color word, which puts it in the company of names people notice and remember. That cuts both ways, and it is rare enough in classrooms that it will be noticed.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Scarlet
Feminine · #509 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Scarlets are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 17,500 people named Scarlet are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Scarlet?
- Scarlet is one of 3 recorded spellings. Scarlett is the more common one — 5,644 births in 2025 against 581 for Scarlet.
- How popular is the name Scarlet in 2025?
- Scarlet ranks #509 among US girl names in 2025, with 581 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Scarlet?
- About 1 in every 2,766 US girls born in 2025 was named Scarlet — 581 in all.
- Will my child share the name Scarlet with classmates?
- Scarlet will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Scarlet
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Estella#509 · Beatrice#508 · Yara#507 · Alisson#511 · Remington#511 · Hanna#511 · Raegan#505 · Mariam#505
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Scarlet? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Scarlet and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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