Rita
Rita is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 159 births. Its best rank was 42nd, in 1930.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 1590.01% of girls
- Peak year
- 19496,654 births
- Best rank
- #42in 1930
- Since 1880
- 284,274people given the name
The story in the numbers
284,274 girls have been named Rita in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1949, with 6,654 births — 0.39% of all girls recorded that year.
The name has all but left use: 159 births in 2024, against 6,654 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1945, and the 1950s alone account for 21%. It has spent 123 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 47 of them in the top 100.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Rita | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 325 | |
| 1890s | 1,029 | |
| 1900s | 1,992 | |
| 1910s | 23,850 | |
| 1920s | 50,587 | |
| 1930s | 38,740 | |
| 1940s | 49,854 | |
| 1950s | 60,265 | |
| 1960s | 32,881 | |
| 1970s | 10,548 | |
| 1980s | 6,151 | |
| 1990s | 3,219 | |
| 2000s | 2,169 | |
| 2010s | 1,828 | |
| 2020s | 836 |
In 1949, its biggest year
Rita was the 54th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1949 were Linda, Mary, Patricia, Barbara and Susan. See all of 1949.
Names that rose and fell with Rita
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Eileenpeak 1947
- Jeannepeak 1947
- Ilenepeak 1950
- Dorethapeak 1956
- Georgettapeak 1946
- Lorrainepeak 1928
- Doretheapeak 1956
- Vernettepeak 1920
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.