# Aretha (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/aretha/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 5,656 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 5,656 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 27, 1996 to 2025 |

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 7 | 11,240 |
| 1999 | 10 | 8,864 |
| 2000 | 5 | 15,262 |
| 2001 | 6 | 13,684 |
| 2002 | 7 | 12,335 |
| 2006 | 5 | 17,448 |
| 2008 | 7 | 14,003 |
| 2010 | 7 | 13,622 |
| 2011 | 5 | 17,050 |
| 2013 | 6 | 14,805 |
| 2017 | 5 | 16,148 |
| 2018 | 5 | 15,947 |
| 2021 | 6 | 13,650 |
| 2022 | 6 | 13,770 |
| 2023 | 6 | 13,625 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 4 | 3,409 |
| 2005 | 3 | 4,798 |
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2013 | 3 | 5,742 |
| 2016 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2019 | 3 | 5,591 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,645 |

## People named Aretha

- Aretha Franklin, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (1942–2018)
- Aretha Thurmond, American discus thrower

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.