Mette

Girls' name

Diminutive of Margaret

Mette has been given to 68 babies in the U.S. since 1959. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2010, with 7 recorded.

Babies named Mette, 2016

1 in 612,000

Mette over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Mette: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Margaret

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Mette means

Mette is a diminutive of Margaret.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Mette is used in Danish and Norwegian.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈmɛ.də/ for Mette.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Mette → Margaret. The family’s meaning is “pearl”, recorded in English with the source elements margarítēs.

Origin, language, and formation

Mette is used in Danish, Finnish and Norwegian.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Margaret and Merete.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Danish, Mette is pronounced /ˈmɛtə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 68 girls were recorded with the name Mette between 1959 and 2016. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2010; its best national rank was #6,014 in 1959.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Mette?

Mette had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2016, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2016: 1 in 612,000; 6 of 3,669,531 births
Among girls only: 1 in 295,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2016: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 423,922 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Mette sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2016 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 423,922 children born in 2016 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mette. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mettes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mette was born before 1977 — so the typical Mette is around 48 today.

Median birth year: 1977; About 48 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 27.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 35.3%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 68; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 27.9% of all recorded uses (19).

Is Mette rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2010 (7)
Years since peak: 15; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 12.2% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,014; 1959

Spellings of Mette

Mette is not the most common spelling — Betty is, with 66.3% against Mette's <0.01%.

Betty66.3%1,001,238
Mattie8.8%133,079
Yvette4.2%64,047
Nettie3.3%49,443
Etta2.9%43,268
Bettie2.5%38,395
Bette2.3%34,897
Bettye1.5%22,920

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Mette around the world

Where Mette ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2003–2007
#5,201
in 2007
Norway
1880–2012
#510
in 2012
South Australia
1969–2008
#796
in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Norway and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Mette by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #6,014; 1959
Peak year: 2010; 7 that year
First recorded: 1959
Last recorded: 2016
All-time count: 68
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Mette

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Lotte Metzi Metha Metra Jette Maitte Metzly Alette Metzli Patte Methyl Dalette Dette Methel Inette Aidette Vylette Metztli Maytte Yuette Joliette Lianette Vonette Lilette

Sibling names for Mette

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Jordynn Hayleigh Heidy Carleigh Paityn Shaniya Jocelynn Lailah

For a brother

Jerimiah Rylee Jordyn Giovanny Zavier Tristian Aaden Chace

Explore around Mette

Top names of 2010, Mette's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 1959 Girls' names starting with M Danish Girl Names