Violet
Meaning of Violet
Violet is the English name of the small spring flower, borrowed from Old French violette, a diminutive of viole, which descends from Latin viola. The name means simply “violet,” and it doubles as the word for the flower’s bluish-purple color. Etymologists have not settled the deeper origin of the Latin word, so the name’s meaning rests on the flower itself.
British English says VY-uh-lit (/vaɪˈlɪt/); American English says VYE-uh-lit (/vaɪˈɛlɪt/), with a fuller second syllable.
The flower and its color account for most of the name’s associations in literature and everyday speech, including the familiar description of a shy person as a shrinking violet. Among notable bearers, Violet Jessop was the ocean-liner stewardess who survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and of the Britannic in 1916, and Violet Gibson was the Irish woman who shot at Benito Mussolini in 1926.
In the United States the name was in steady use by 1900 and ranked 74th in 1919, with 3,597 girls. It then faded for decades, falling to 1,126th in 1978, before recovering sharply. In 2025 it ranked 13th, its highest place in records going back to 1880, with 7,546 births.
Pronunciation
British English
- Pronunced as VY-uh-lit (/vaɪˈlɪt/)
American English
- Pronunced as VYE-uh-lit (/vaɪˈɛlɪt/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Violet
| Violet Constance Jessop was an Irish-Argentine ocean liner stewardess and nurse who survived the Titanic and Britannic sinkings and was aboard the Olympic during its 1911 collision. |
| Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland - Marion Margaret Violet Manners was a British artist and noblewoman who married Henry Manners in 1882, became Duchess of Rutland in 1906, and was mother to five children including John Manners, the 9th Duke of Rutland, and socialite Lady Diana Cooper. |
| Violet Tillard was a British suffragette, Quaker, and pacifist nurse who aided famine relief and defended conscientious objectors. |
| Violet Moore Higgins, born Violet Moore, was an American cartoonist, children’s book illustrator, and writer. |
| Violet Gordon-Woodhouse was a pioneering British keyboardist who helped revive the harpsichord and clavichord and made the first harpsichord recordings and broadcasts. |
| Irish woman Violet Albina Gibson attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini in 1926 but, though released without charge, spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital in England. |
| Violet Berlin is a British TV presenter, producer, and screenwriter best known for her pioneering coverage of video games and cutting edge technology. |
| Violet Bidwill Wolfner - Violet Fults Bidwill Wolfner was the first woman to be principal owner of an NFL team and owned the Chicago and later St. Louis Cardinals from 1947 until her death in 1962 after inheriting the club from her husband. |
| Violet Brown, a Jamaican supercentenarian, was the oldest living person in the world for five months in 2017 and died at 117, one of the last two people born in the 19th century and the oldest Jamaican on record. |
| Violet Astor, Baroness Astor of Hever, was an English aristocrat who was styled Lady Charles Fitzmaurice from 1909 to 1914 and Lady Charles Mercer Nairne from 1914 to 1918. |
| Violet Elliott, called Chick Elliott in Britain, was an Australian comedian, singer, and actress. |
