ninan.org

Rita

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~147,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,285 among girls
Births in 2025
174 285,230 since 1880
Typical age
70 years, median

Rita popularity over time

Rita rank by birth year, 1880–2025Rita ranked #375 in 1880 and #1,285 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #42, in 1930.#100#1,000#1,285best #42 in 193018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Rita was used most in 1949, when 6,669 babies were given the name. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Rita has spent 47 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #1,285 with 174 births. It climbed 110 places against the previous year.

Babies named Rita per yearPeaks at 6,669 births in 1949.6,669 in 1949018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Rita?

About 147,000 people named Rita are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 285,230 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Rita?

The typical living Rita is 70 years old. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Rita a mid-century name.

Your Rita

Ages of living people named RitaHalf of living Ritas are older than 70 and half younger.median 70020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Rita is most common

Relative to births, New York carries 1.9× the national share of Ritas. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan follow.

Where Rita is used more than average5 states use the name Rita more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 1.6× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: 1.5× the national rateMINew York: 1.9× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: 1.5× the national ratePANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.9× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Rita is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New York 172 1.9×
Massachusetts 51 1.9×
Minnesota 41 1.6×
Michigan 64 1.5×
Pennsylvania 78 1.5×

Rita in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Rita ranked #719 in 2025 on 51 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Rita comes from

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.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Rita

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Rita Levi-Montalcini Italian neurologist 1909–2012 104
Rita Ora English-Albanian singer and actress 1990 80
Rita of Cascia Italian Augustinian nun 1381–1457 46
Rita Wilson American actress, singer and producer 1956 46
Rita Lee Brazilian singer, songwriter, author, actress and television host 1947–2023 40
Rita Mae Brown novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist 1944 34
Rita Coolidge American recording artist; singer 1945 33
Rita Pavone Italian actress and singer (1945-) 1945 33
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,101 in 1913 to 2,010 in 1914 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Rita

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/rita.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).