Of English origin.
It was used as a surname in England and had an occupational meaning.
It was referring to someone who sold or made clothes of scarlet.
Scarlet was a type of woolen cloth that was quite common in Medieval England.
It was produced in several colors, the most common of which was the color red, and that resulted in the double meaning of the word.
Scarlet is also the bright red color, between red and orange, which is associated with joy, force and passion.
Sources refer to an early origin of the word scarlet from the Persian “saghrilat”.
The main female character of the film “Gone with the wind” was named Scarlett O’Hara.
The epic civil war drama was an adaptation from Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer winning novel and, at the time, set a record for Academy award wins and nominations.
After the release of the film the name Scarlett entered, for the first time, the top 1000 of the baby names in the U.S.A.
Another fictional Scarlett in the movies, is Hugh Grant’s close friend in the film “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.
Recently, there was a rise in the name’s popularity due to the fame of actress Scarlett Johansson.
Other form of the name: Scarlet.
Famous bearers are Scarlett Johansson, Scarlett Pomers, Scarlett Werner, Scarlett Keegan, Scarlett Stitt.
Scarlett is a popular name in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, United States and New Zealand.
Actress Scarlett Johansson, who has a singing career too, is a Global Ambassador for the aid and development agency “Oxfam”, provides a positive example of the name.
She is successful, talented and a humanitarian as well and she is ranked 65th on Forbes’ list of 100 top celebrities for 2015.