Rita
Girl nameRita has been given to 285,230 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1949.
Meaning & origin
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.
Origin: Romance languages, Italian, Spanish
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
285,230
Peak year
1949 (6,669 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1880
10-year trend
▼ -8%
Gender split
100% girls / 0% boys
Famous people named Rita
Rita Levi-Montalcini
Italian neurologist (1909–2012)
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)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Rita.
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