Family name origins & meanings
- French : the usual spelling in North America of Sublet ‘whistler’, from Old French sublet ‘whistle’, ‘hiss’ (from the verb subler, sibler), hence a nickname for someone who was able to whistle in imitation of birdsong, to attract and catch birds. The spelling -ette is not a feminine form, but a spelling prompted by the continuing pronunciation of final -t in American French surnames after it had become silent in European French.