| Colette | Nadine | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Victory of the people | hope |
| Origin | French | french |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | koh-LET | nah-DEEN |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1892 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2025 (962) | 1958 (1,011) |
| In 2025 | 962 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Colette | Nadine |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 4,403 | 829 |
| 2010s | 4,998 | 1,555 |
| 2000s | 1,666 | 1,928 |
| 1990s | 1,426 | 2,684 |
| 1980s | 1,790 | 3,319 |
| 1970s | 2,494 | 3,889 |
| 1960s | 4,764 | 8,008 |
| 1950s | 3,670 | 8,979 |
| 1940s | 1,204 | 5,317 |
| 1930s | 747 | 6,196 |
| 1920s | 461 | 6,951 |
| 1910s | 250 | 3,095 |
| 1900s | 76 | 443 |
| 1890s | 38 | 163 |
| 1880s | 0 | 25 |
Colette is a French short form of Nicolette, “victory of the people.”
A French elaboration of Nadia/Nadya, ultimately from Russian Nadezhda, from the Old Slavic word meaning 'hope'. The 'hope' sense comes through the Slavic root rather than any native French element.
Colette is more popular than Nadine today: about 962 US babies were given the name Colette in 2025, compared with 0 named Nadine.
Colette means Victory of the people (French origin), while Nadine means hope (french origin).
In US records, Colette first appears in 1892 and Nadine in 0, so Nadine has the longer recorded history.