# Rita (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/rita/  
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 | Reta, Reeta, Reetha, Retha, Ritha |
| US babies named this | 285,230 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 778 / 284,452 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,072, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Romance (Italian Rita, Spanish Rita). A shortening of Italian Margherita, and Spanish Margarita, cognates of English Margaret. An Italian Saint Rita was canonized in 1900. The English name came into regular use in early twentieth century.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 169 | 1,368 |
| 2012 | 169 | 1,382 |
| 2013 | 182 | 1,291 |
| 2014 | 171 | 1,367 |
| 2015 | 190 | 1,283 |
| 2016 | 210 | 1,190 |
| 2017 | 207 | 1,186 |
| 2018 | 185 | 1,254 |
| 2019 | 169 | 1,348 |
| 2020 | 185 | 1,234 |
| 2021 | 150 | 1,437 |
| 2022 | 178 | 1,323 |
| 2023 | 164 | 1,376 |
| 2024 | 161 | 1,397 |
| 2025 | 174 | 1,287 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 10 | 2,864 |
| 1962 | 17 | 2,022 |
| 1963 | 13 | 2,394 |
| 1964 | 11 | 2,629 |
| 1965 | 7 | 3,487 |
| 1966 | 13 | 2,312 |
| 1967 | 9 | 2,940 |
| 1968 | 11 | 2,695 |
| 1970 | 11 | 3,030 |
| 1971 | 11 | 3,105 |
| 1972 | 7 | 4,347 |
| 1978 | 9 | 4,101 |
| 1979 | 5 | 6,859 |
| 1980 | 9 | 4,423 |
| 1984 | 7 | 5,460 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 32 | 1,067 |
| 2012 | 40 | 916 |
| 2013 | 57 | 699 |
| 2014 | 65 | 625 |
| 2015 | 53 | 735 |
| 2016 | 73 | 573 |
| 2017 | 52 | 764 |
| 2018 | 56 | 710 |
| 2019 | 68 | 584 |
| 2020 | 55 | 674 |
| 2021 | 59 | 654 |
| 2022 | 50 | 729 |
| 2023 | 42 | 851 |
| 2024 | 62 | 625 |
| 2025 | 51 | 719 |

## In other languages

- French: Rita
- Hungarian: Rita
- Polish: Rita

## People named Rita

- Rita Ora, English-Albanian singer and actress
- Rita Wilson, American actress, singer and producer
- Rita Lee, Brazilian singer, songwriter, author, actress and television host (1947–2023)
- Rita Coolidge, American recording artist; singer
- Rita Dove, American poet, essayist, and university teacher (born 1952)
- Rita Tushingham, English actress
- Rita of Armenia, Byzantine empress as Maria
- Rita Gam, American actress (1927–2016)
- Rita Sargsyan, First Lady of Armenia
- Rita Rudner, American comedian
- Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
- Rita Kühne, East German sprinter

## 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.