Scarlett

Associated with scarlet cloth and the colour scarlet red.

Scarlett is an English feminine name connected with scarlet cloth and, through that word, a bright shade of red. Its immediate source is a surname associated with making or selling scarlet clothing. The colour offers striking imagery; it does not make “red-haired” the name’s literal meaning. The English pronunciation has two syllables, with the emphasis on the first. Its crisp sk opening and final t give Scarlett a defined outline, while the l softens the middle. If you like a name with a bold sound rather than a flowing vowel ending, that contrast is part of its appeal. Scarlett O’Hara in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind gives the name a literary connection. You can enjoy that dramatic styling or simply the colour association. The double t belongs to this spelling of the name; the English colour word scarlet ends with a single t.

Etymology: From an English occupational surname for someone who made or sold scarlet clothing.