Violette
Violette was the 894th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 298 babies. Its best year was 1908, when it ranked 591st; the most babies were born in 2025 (298). Over the last ten years it has moved up 324 places. More babies were named Violette in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning violet (the flower) · French, Latin
Say it vee-oh-LET /ˌviəˈlɛt/
- Rank in 2025
- #894 girls, up 88 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 298girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2025298 babies
- Total since 1880
- 6,403babies recorded
What does the name Violette mean?
Violette is the French word for the violet flower, used as a girls' name in France and in English as a variant of Violet. The French word is a diminutive of Latin viola 'violet'. DMNES records Violet as a woman's name in 16th-century Scotland and notes that its popularity there owed something to the French use of the name. In French, Violette is also a surname that began as a nickname.
violette (French, “violet (flower)”)viola (Latin, “violet”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Pronunciation: Stress the last syllable, as in French; some families say it like Violet.
Related names: Violet, Viola, Violetta.
See also: French names, names that mean flower.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Violette' (French section), Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Violet', DMNES, Durham University
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), Carnegie Mellon University
Nicknames for Violette
The usual nicknames for Violette are Vi. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Violette in the last five years, 4 were named Vi, against 67 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vi · also for Violet, Vivian, Violeta | Modern | #14,813 | 50 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Violettes go by each one.
Violette popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #894 | 298 |
| 2020 | #982 | 260 |
| 2010 | #1,940 | 104 |
| 2000 | #7,563 | 14 |
| 1990 | #11,381 | 7 |
| 1980 | #10,357 | 6 |
| 1970 | #9,325 | 5 |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | #3,227 | 12 |
| 1940 | #2,415 | 13 |
| 1930 | #1,127 | 44 |
| 1920 | #675 | 117 |
| 1910 | #752 | 33 |
| 1900 | #883 | 19 |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Violette, counting every spelling?
Violette has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #868 for girls in 2025, against #894 on the official list.
How many kids will share the name Violette?
298 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Violette (0.08 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Violette born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 28 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Violette.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Violette?
About 4,200 people born in the US named Violette are alive today, with a median age of 9; half are between 4 and 15. That makes Violette a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Violette by state
How common Violette was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Arizona (2.2×), Massachusetts (1.8×), California (1.7×), Wisconsin (1.5×). In 22 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Violette: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Violette, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Violette · Sibling names for Violette
Questions about the name Violette
What does Violette mean?
Violette means “violet (the flower)” (French, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Violette?
Violette was the 894th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 298 babies. Its best year was 1908, when it ranked 591st; the most babies were born in 2025 (298). Over the last ten years it has moved up 324 places. More babies were named Violette in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Violette a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Violette in the US.
Where is Violette most popular?
In 2021–2025, Violette was most common in Arizona (0.35 per 1,000 girls), followed by Massachusetts and California.