Meaning and origin
Scarlett began as an English occupational surname for someone who made or sold clothing made from scarlet cloth. Its history therefore starts with a textile trade, before the surname became familiar as a girl’s given name.
The older cloth word may ultimately have come from Persian saqrelat. Today, scarlet is most immediately recognizable as a vivid red color, giving Scarlett a color association alongside its surname history. The two connections help explain why the name can feel both like a family name and like an English word name.
Scarlet and Scarlette are related spellings. Scarlett, with its double t ending, is the form particularly associated with a famous literary character and with actor Scarlett Johansson.
Scarlett O’Hara
Margaret Mitchell used Scarlett for the central character of her 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. In the story, the name comes from Scarlett’s grandmother, continuing the surname connection within the character’s family history.
Scarlett O’Hara is the daughter of a wealthy Georgia plantation owner. The American Civil War and Reconstruction change the world around her, and the novel follows her relationships and efforts to preserve her place within that changing society. Her determination, manipulation, and complicated emotional life make her a forceful central character rather than a simple romantic heroine.
The 1939 film adaptation carried the name to an even wider audience. Even with that early fame, Scarlett did not become a common English given name until the twenty-first century. Its literary recognition preceded its largest wave of everyday naming by many decades.
Scarlett Johansson
Actor Scarlett Johansson is another major association. At the 2020 Academy Awards, she received nominations in both actress categories: Actress in a Leading Role for Marriage Story and Actress in a Supporting Role for Jojo Rabbit.
Both films were released in 2019, placing the two nominations at the same ceremony. Together, they give Scarlett a contemporary screen connection alongside the much older one created by Gone with the Wind. Johansson’s rising public profile in the early 2000s also coincided with a period when the name was gaining ground.
Pronunciation and American popularity
Scarlett is pronounced SKAR-lit, with two syllables and the stress on the first. Its opening consonant cluster and clear final t give it a crisp sound, while the spelling preserves the surname form.
Among American girls, Scarlett’s largest annual count came in 2017, when 7,721 received the name. Its best rank was number 14 in 2022. It ranked number 22 in 2015, number 21 in 2020, and number 32 in 2025. These figures track Scarlett specifically, with Scarlet and Scarlette appearing under separate spellings.
Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution
Meaning and history 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.
How popular is Scarlett?
In 2025, Scarlett ranked #32 among girls in the United States, with 5,644 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1937; its largest annual count was 7,721 in 2017. 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.