If Scarlet and Violet are big for girls, why not this equally colorful choice for a son?

Thanks to Photoquilty and Jill for suggesting Jett as Name of the Day.

Jett sounds like a nouveau name, and indeed he first charted in the US Top 1000 in 1999.  But dig through old Census records, and there have been Jetts farther back in history.

Odds are that most were sporting a family surname.  Jetté was a traditional French surname given to abandoned children, based on the verb jeter – to throw.

The earliest Jett in the US was born back in 1776.  Georgia’s Jett Thomas fought in the War of 1812.  But for most, Jett brings to mind badass rocker Joan Jett (born Joan Larkin) or fictional Jett Jackson, the tweenaged actor/secret agent on the Disney Channel’s The Famous Jett Jackson.

There have also been plenty of starbabies called Jett:

• Hank Williams Sr. has a daughter known as Jett – but she was born Antha Belle.  Jett was her birth mothers’ maiden name;
• George Lucas has a son called Jett – when he cameo’d in the Star Wars prequels, his character was known as Zett;
• John Travolta’s late son Jett was named after father’s love of aviation.

And that’s the thing – Jett may be a valid surname choice, but he strikes many as a noun name tricked out with a superfluous t.

Again, the French verb jeter led to the term jet propulsion in the 1860s; jet engine was coined in the 1940s.  Circa 2009, jet does bring to mind all things aviation-oriented, as well as the glamor of the international jet set.

Parents naming Jasper’s brother could also arrive at the geological Jet.  Formed when wood decays under pressure, the French word jaiet eventually became the English jet.  Jet is dark, hence the term “jet black.”  It’s been used in jewelry for millenia.  Queen Victoria adopted jet as part of her mourning regalia.  During the Roaring Twenties, long strands of jet beads made fashionable necklaces.

There’s another Jett reference, and this time it does refer to a person – James Dean’ s character from 1956′s Giant.  Dean scored a posthumous Oscar nomination for his role as grey-haired oil tycoon Jett Rink.  While Jett might not’ve been an inspiring character, all things associated with Dean retain a certain cachet.

Today another big screen Jet might inspire parents seeking a cross cultural name – martial artist turned movie star Jet Li, best known for movies like Once Upon A Time in China, Romeo Must Die and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon.

And let’s not forget the New York Jets, “I gotta jet,” the gang from West Side Story, Cowboy Bebop’s Jet Black, Elton John’s “Bennie & the Jets,” or Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Jet.”

It’s not a classic name, but it has more history than you might expect.  Hovering just outside the boys’ Top  500, he’s not a true rarity – but he might still make a more distinctive choice than Cade or Gabe.