Feminine form of Bennett, from Latin Benedictus meaning blessed.
Bennette is a feminized elaboration of Bennett, itself the medieval English vernacular rendering of the Latin Benedictus — "the blessed one." Saint Benedict of Nursia, the sixth-century father of Western monasticism whose Rule still governs Benedictine communities worldwide, gave the name enormous ecclesiastical prestige across medieval Europe. The anglicized Bennett emerged as a common surname and baptismal name in England by the twelfth century, and the added feminine terminal transforms it into something altogether more lyrical.
The double-t spelling of Bennette gives it a visual elegance that distinguishes it from plainer variants, suggesting French influence, where names ending in silent consonants carry aristocratic connotations. It shares space with Annette, Claudette, and Lisette in that tradition of Franco-English feminizations. Fans of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice will note the surname Bennet worn by Elizabeth and her sisters — and indeed the name carries something of that Regency-era gentility, suggesting wit beneath propriety.
In contemporary usage, Bennette occupies the niche of the deliberately uncommon: parents who know and love Bennett but want something that feels more singularly feminine are discovering it. It carries the weight of blessing — literal, etymological blessing — into a modern register without feeling either antiquated or invented.