| Belle | Colette | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful | Victory of the people |
| Origin | french | French |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | BEL | koh-LET |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 1892 |
| Peak year | 1915 (407) | 2025 (962) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 962 |
| Trend | Vintage | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Belle | Colette |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,522 | 4,403 |
| 2010s | 2,405 | 4,998 |
| 2000s | 1,297 | 1,666 |
| 1990s | 392 | 1,426 |
| 1980s | 112 | 1,790 |
| 1970s | 171 | 2,494 |
| 1960s | 261 | 4,764 |
| 1950s | 398 | 3,670 |
| 1940s | 429 | 1,204 |
| 1930s | 538 | 747 |
| 1920s | 1,545 | 461 |
| 1910s | 2,901 | 250 |
| 1900s | 2,096 | 76 |
| 1890s | 2,512 | 38 |
| 1880s | 2,648 | 0 |
The French word belle 'beautiful', feminine of beau, from Latin bellus. Used as a given name meaning 'beautiful' and also a short form of names like Isabelle/Annabelle.
Colette is a French short form of Nicolette, “victory of the people.”
Colette is more popular than Belle today: about 962 US babies were given the name Colette in 2025, compared with 0 named Belle.
Belle means Beautiful (french origin), while Colette means Victory of the people (French origin).
In US records, Belle first appears in 0 and Colette in 1892, so Belle has the longer recorded history.