Paulette

About Paulette

Paulette is a French feminine form of Paul, carrying the Latin meaning “small.” Its “-ette” ending gives it a familiar French shape, while actor Paulette Goddard and writer Paulette Nardal connect it with two very different parts of twentieth-century cultural history.

Meaning and name family

Paul comes from the Roman name Paulus, meaning “small.” Its use spread widely through the importance of the apostle Paul in early Christianity.

Paulette developed as a French feminine familiar form. Paula, Pauline, and Italian Paola belong to the same wider family, though each has a different sound and rhythm.

The name is also used in English, where its second syllable normally receives the strongest stress. It has an independent first-name history rather than functioning only as a nickname for a longer form.

Pronunciation

English Paulette is usually paw-LET, with two syllables. French is approximately poh-LET, with a rounded first vowel and a light final “t.”

The final “e” is not a separate syllable. Its consonant ending distinguishes Paulette from Paula, whose two syllables both finish with vowels. “Lettie” could be a suggested everyday shortening drawn from the ending.

Paulette Goddard in Modern Times

Paulette Goddard played the Gamine in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, released in 1936. Her character becomes a companion to the Tramp as they face a world organized around industrial work and economic insecurity.

The role was shaped by Goddard’s personality. Rather than leaving Chaplin’s character isolated, the film gives him another person with whom to imagine a future.

Chaplin originally filmed an ending in which the Gamine became a nun, separating the pair. He replaced it with the familiar conclusion in which they set off together along a country road. That change makes their partnership central to the film’s final impression.

Paulette Nardal’s salon

Paulette Nardal and her sister Jane helped create an important gathering place for Black intellectuals at their home in Clamart, near Paris, during the 1920s and 1930s.

The salon brought writers, artists, and political thinkers into conversation across national boundaries. The sisters also participated in the Revue du Monde Noir, published in 1931 and 1932.

Those gatherings and publications helped make Paris a meeting place for Black cultural thought during the interwar years. Nardal gives Paulette a literary and intellectual association alongside Goddard’s place in cinema.

Popularity in the United States

Paulette’s best American rank was No. 117 in 1946. Its largest annual count came in 1948, with 2,579 girls.

Use later fell sharply, reaching 44 girls in 2000. It has recovered somewhat since then: 138 girls received Paulette in 2025, ranking it No. 1,536. That is close to its 2010 count of 140, though far below the postwar peak.

How popular is Paulette?

In 2025, Paulette ranked #1,536 among girls in the United States, with 138 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1907; its largest annual count was 2,579 in 1948. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.