Alette: Baby Name of the Day

The baby name Alette looks kinda-sorta French, but this name’s history spans all of Europe.

Thanks to Breanne for suggesting her daughter’s name as our Baby Name of the Day.

WHAT DOES THE NAME ALETTE MEAN?

The tricky thing about the baby name Alette? It’s used sparingly, across much of Europe.

During the nineteenth century, Norwegian artist Peter Nicolai Arbo mostly painted images from Norse mythology. But his works include portraits. His daughter, Signe Alette Arbo, posed for one of them. 

The name continues to surface in Norway across the years. Claudia Alette Bull won Norway’s Next Top Model in 2011.

So is it French? Norwegian?

Search for meaning of Alette, and several possibilities emerge:

• It’s tempting to connect Alette to the Latin ala – wing. The Latin altus – high – is the source of the similar-sounding Alta, so it’s not unreasonable.
• Some suggest it’s a simplified form of the Greek Alethea, meaning truth. Since forms like Letha, Aletha, and Aleta appear over the years, that seems plausible.
• Altha and Aletha come from a Greek word meaning healing, associated with the mother of Meleager in Greek myth. 
• But Alette and Aletta almost certainly come from yet another name, this one with broad pan-European appeal and too many forms to ever count: Adelaide.

And so to find the meaning of Alette? We’ll have to look to Adelaide.

SOPHISTICATION AND SPIRIT: ADELAIDE

The Nordic Names Wiki lists Alette as a variant of Ahlet, a short form of Ahleit, ultimately connected to Adelaide.

Variations and spellings abound: Alet, Allett, and Aletta, as well as Aleta or Alida and Aleida.

Adelaide comes from adal, meaning noble, combined with heid, meaning kind or type.

Plenty of royals and members of the nobility wore the name. Empress Adelaide served as regent of the Holy Roman Empire for her grandson during the late 900s before retiring to a convent she’d founded. She’s Saint Adelaide, and she wasn’t the last. 

Doubtless that’s part of the reason the name spread across Europe.

ALETTE IN FRANCE

But is Alette a French name?

It’s sometimes heard as a place name:

• Alette is a small village in northern France, about an hour’s drive from Calais, in Pas-de-Calais, near the Strait of Dover.
• On the opposite side of the country, there’s Alet-les-Bains, once known as Aleth. 
• In Brittany there’s a former Aleth, too, once home to a cathedral, and the sixth-century Saint Aaron of Aleth.

But as a given name? It’s only used in tiny numbers. Certainly it’s not enough to be certain.

While Alice – another Adelaide name – has clear French origins, Alette seems to have developed in several places.

ALETTE IN POPULAR CULTURE

A handful of pop culture references have boosted the name’s profile over the years.

• Author Sidney Sheldon started out in film and television, but had transitioned to novels by the 1970s. He became a powerhouse bestseller, still one of the all-time best-selling fiction authors. In 1998’s Tell Me Your Dreams, one of the three main female characters was called Alette. 
• Speaking of bestsellers, the sensational Confessions of a Shopaholic, published in 2001, became a 2009 movie. In the film version, Becky Bloomwood – the shopaholic at the heart of the series – gets a job at a fashion magazine called Alette. In the movie, it’s named for French fashion editor Alette Naylor, played by Kristin Scott Thomas.
• In the Atelier Sophie video game series, there’s a playable character named Alette Claretie. She’s a merchant. The character debuted in 2022. 

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME ALETTE?

When it comes to popularity, the baby name Alette has always been on the fringes.

Arlette, a French name ultimately derived from the Germanic Herleva, meaning warrior and legacy, has been reasonably common as a feminine name. In fact, it’s ranked in the US Top 1000 most years since 2018.

But Alette?

It debuted in the US data back in 1962. The most births ever recorded in a single year was twelve.

As of 2023, just six girls were named Alette.

That’s about as rare as a name can be, while still appearing in the data.

ELEGANT AND RARE

Alette is an elegant name with timeless appeal. It’s lighter than regal Adelaide, without sacrificing a sense of history.

If you love names like Alina and Elora, but also Scarlett and Colette, the baby name Alette might just hit the sweet spot. It can substitute for more common Al-/El- and -ette names, but somehow is’t too different, either.

For a short name, it’s nickname rich. Ally or Allie might be obvious, but Letty or Lettie is sweetly vintage, too.  

If you’re after a true rarity in step with 2020s style, the baby name Alette is one to consider.

What do you think of Alette?

First published on December 5, 2013, this post was revised and re-published on January 5, 2025.