Jett

How to say it

/dʒɛt/

What it means

English from the Greek gagatēs (the black stone mined at Gagae in Lycia, used as a Victorian mourning jewel). The double-T spelling reads as a modern American coinage. Joan Jett the rock musician and the Jett Black 1970s muscle-car aesthetic anchor the modern feel.

Jett comes from the English jet, a hard black gemstone (fossilized wood) mined since antiquity at Gagae in Lycia (Asia Minor); the Greek gagatēs gave the Latin gagates and the Old French jaiet, and the English jet by the 14th century. Jet was widely used in Victorian mourning jewelry and gave the adjective 'jet-black.' The double-T Jett spelling is a modern American coinage that pushes toward the 'fast, sleek' connotation (a jet airplane, jet-set). Joan Jett the rock musician (born Joan Larkin, 1958, of The Runaways and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) is the deepest cultural anchor. As a first name Jett has been in the US top 500 since 2005 and is steady in the 200-300 range. Single syllable, no shorter form.

Heads-up notes

• Pop culture

  Joan Jett (I Love Rock 'n' Roll, Bad Reputation) is the deepest cultural anchor; the double-T spelling pushes toward the 'fast, sleek' modern reading.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Joan Jett American rock musician, The Runaways and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Spelling variants

• Jet

Names with the same feeling

• Knox Round hill
• Ace Number one, expert
• Max Greatest
• Kai Sea, or 'keeper of the keys'
• Rhett Ardent, fiery

See Jett from another angle