A variant of Scarlett, originally an English surname for a seller or maker of scarlet cloth.
Skarlett is a variant spelling of Scarlett, a name with rich textile and literary history. The word scarlet entered English from the Old French escarlate, which itself derived from the Medieval Latin scarlatum — a term for a high-quality, finely woven cloth that was often dyed a brilliant crimson red using kermes insects. The cloth was so prized and so commonly dyed that the color became synonymous with the fabric, and the name eventually emerged as an English surname for those who worked in the cloth trade, before transitioning into a given name.
As a name, Scarlett gained its enduring cultural anchor through Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and the 1939 film adaptation, in which Scarlett O'Hara — pragmatic, passionate, and fiercely survivalist — became one of American literature's most indelible characters. Vivien Leigh's portrayal made the name feel simultaneously Southern, vivacious, and slightly dangerous. Decades later, Scarlett Johansson brought the name back into mainstream consciousness, and by the 2010s Scarlett had climbed to the top ten most popular names in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.
The Skarlett spelling — substituting K for C — follows a trend of phonetic respelling that gives familiar names a distinctive visual identity. The K variant appears more assertive on the page, slightly edgier, and helps distinguish a child's name in a generation where several classmates might share the more conventional spelling. It retains all of Scarlett's warmth and boldness while signaling a parent's deliberate stylistic choice, a small act of individualization within a beloved name tradition.