Polette
A French feminine name meaning "little doll" or "small pretty girl".
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the first name Polette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Polette today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Polette births was 2012 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Polette. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
133
~ 1 in 2,577,100 Americans
Peak year
2012
12 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,044
Tracked since 1988
Census
Polette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Polette, which placed it at #47,200 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
83.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Polette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Polette is Hispanic at 83.5%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Black (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Polette described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Polette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino83.5% · 116
- White10.8% · 15
- Black or African American4.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
- Two or more races0.7% · 1
Popularity
Polette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Polette from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 63 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Polette remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Polette by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Polette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Polettes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Polette
The given name Polette is believed to have its origins in the French language, with roots dating back to the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is thought to be a feminine diminutive form of the name Paulette, which itself is derived from the Latin name Paulus or Paulinus, meaning "small" or "humble."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Polette can be found in historical records from the region of Normandy, France, where it was used as a variant of the more common Paulette. In those times, the name was often associated with families of modest means or those who valued humility and simplicity.
While the name Polette does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it shares its linguistic roots with the name Paul, which has significant biblical connections. The apostle Paul, originally known as Saul, was a key figure in the spread of Christianity and the author of several books in the New Testament.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Polette. One such person was Polette de la Rue (c. 1450-1520), a French noblewoman and courtier during the reign of King Louis XII. Another was Polette de Montfort (c. 1300-1370), a renowned poet and patron of the arts in 14th-century France.
In the realm of literature, Polette Viardot (1821-1910) was a French operatic mezzo-soprano and composer who gained fame for her interpretations of works by composers such as Gounod and Berlioz. Additionally, Polette Godard (1710-1781) was a French philosopher and writer who contributed to the Enlightenment movement.
While the name Polette may not be as widely used today as it once was, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of French culture and heritage, with its origins rooted in the ideals of humility and simplicity that were valued in medieval times.
People
Polette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Polette as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Polette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Polette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Polette going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,577,100 US residents.
Is Polette a common name?
We classify Polette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Polette most popular?
The single biggest year for Polette was 2012, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Polette is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Polette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Polette, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Polette in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Polette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Polette appears almost entirely female. Of the 137 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Polette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Polette is Hispanic at 83.5%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Black (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Polette most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Polette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (116 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Polette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Polette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Polette in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Polette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Polette in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Polette can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Polette?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Polette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.