Rhett
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Meaning
ardor, enthusiasm; immortalized by Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939)
The story
Rhett is Welsh in most name books, glossed as ardor or enthusiasm, a fittingly hot-blooded origin for a name built on charm. It scarcely appears in American records until the 1930s, the very decade Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind swept the country and the 1939 film made Rhett Butler, Clark Gable's smirking blockade runner, the most famous rogue in American fiction. A name arriving in the records just as its great bearer arrives on screen is the kind of timing we can never prove but would be foolish to ignore. Rhett then held on quietly for a few decades before climbing steadily from the 1970s onward, gathering speed through the 2000s and 2010s and reaching its highest point yet in the 2020s. Few names anywhere trace so clean a line from a single fictional charmer to a genuine modern favorite, drawl included.
How popular is Rhett around the world?
In the United States, 13,752 babies were named Rhett between 2020 and 2025.
Rhett is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 1,600
In the United States, 13,752 babies were named Rhett between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Rhett peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 2,800
In Canada, 125 boys named Rhett were born in 2024, the 259th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 59,000
In England and Wales, 10 boys named Rhett were born in 2025, ranked 2,269th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 2016
Rhett is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Rhett
Most people given the name Rhett in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Rhett · Names that go with Rhett · Middle names for Rhett · Romantic names · Iconic movie character names · Nickname-proof names
The Rhett deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Rhett truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Rhett fits with your family’s names and surname.
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