Rhett

English

Etymology

Name of a South Carolina family, anglicized from Dutch de Raedt, from Middle Dutch raet (“advice”).

Proper noun

Rhett

1. An American surname from Dutch.
2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
   • 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part I, page 99:

     “Oh, Scarlett, he has the most terrible reputation. His name is Rhett Butler and he's from Charleston and his folks are some of the nicest people there, but they won't even speak to him. Caro Rhett told me about him last summer.