Barnette

Barnette is a surname of English-language origin found in several English-speaking countries and among descendants of emigrants in the Americas. It is borne by individuals across a variety of professions, including politics, sports, and academia, though no single person with the name dominates public recognition.

In legal history, the name Barnette is associated with West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, a 1943 United States Supreme Court decision. The case involved Jehovah’s Witnesses challenging a state requirement that public-school students salute the flag. The Court held that compelling speech or symbolic action in this context violated the First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, thereby limiting state power to force patriotic rituals in schools. The decision is often cited as a foundational protection for individual conscience and religious liberty in the United States.

Variant spellings and related surnames include Barnett, which is more common; Barnette may appear as an alternative spelling in genealogical records and historical documents. Beyond its use as a family name, Barnette is not widely used as a distinct topic in standard reference works, and most discussions of the term refer to either individuals who bear the surname or the landmark Supreme Court case mentioned above.