Rita

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Meaning

Rita is a female name, often a name in its own right, but mostly a shortened version of Margarita. The feast day of Rita is generally celebrated on May 22 in honor of Saint Rita of Cascia.

From Wikipedia

Rita first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1949 with 6,654 babies (rank #54 that year). In 2024 it was given to 159 girls (rank #1,404). Its popularity has been fairly steady recently.

Numerology of Rita

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Rita yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

3Destiny numberThe creativeExpressive, sociable, lifted by playful energy.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
1Soul urgeThe leaderIndependent, pioneering, drawn to going first.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
11PersonalityThe visionary (master)Intuitive and inspirational — a heightened 2.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

285,052

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

6,654

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Rita

Rita Levi-Montalcinineurobiologist · b. 1909
Rita Orafilm actor · b. 1990
Rita Wilsonfilm actor · b. 1956
Rita Leechildren's writer · b. 1947
Rita Mae Brownfeminist · b. 1944

Share your Rita story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Names ranked near Rita in 2024

Other girls' names starting with R

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	19	#385
1881	20	#382
1882	21	#402
1883	15	#514
1884	24	#414
1885	31	#372
1886	28	#414
1887	40	#342
1888	52	#335
1889	75	#276
1890	54	#349
1891	65	#314
1892	87	#291
1893	95	#275
1894	104	#273
1895	105	#275
1896	109	#275
1897	117	#264
1898	146	#244
1899	147	#228
1900	162	#256
1901	135	#249
1902	148	#257
1903	174	#228
1904	166	#242
1905	188	#229
1906	203	#219
1907	266	#196
1908	255	#212
1909	295	#197
1910	333	#198
1911	403	#179
1912	636	#165
1913	1,096	#116
1914	2,010	#87
1915	3,063	#71
1916	3,477	#67
1917	3,870	#63
1918	4,447	#58
1919	4,515	#54
1920	4,979	#52
1921	5,157	#48
1922	4,976	#52
1923	5,095	#50
1924	5,381	#49
1925	5,323	#48
1926	5,015	#50
1927	5,084	#54
1928	4,810	#57
1929	4,767	#52
1930	5,470	#42
1931	4,613	#48
1932	4,255	#53
1933	3,841	#53
1934	3,683	#63
1935	3,579	#63
1936	3,333	#69
1937	3,421	#69
1938	3,357	#74
1939	3,188	#78
1940	3,442	#70
1941	3,879	#63
1942	4,706	#55
1943	5,011	#52
1944	4,530	#55
1945	4,282	#59
1946	5,533	#56
1947	5,982	#60
1948	5,835	#59
1949	6,654	#54
1950	6,423	#56
1951	6,415	#61
1952	6,148	#66
1953	6,284	#64
1954	6,536	#67
1955	6,094	#72
1956	6,055	#79
1957	6,018	#78
1958	5,341	#88
1959	4,951	#98
1960	5,027	#96
1961	4,534	#105
1962	4,101	#110
1963	3,807	#115
1964	3,470	#122
1965	3,065	#126
1966	2,688	#135
1967	2,380	#146
1968	2,073	#159
1969	1,736	#184
1970	1,589	#203
1971	1,419	#215
1972	1,199	#230
1973	1,031	#248
1974	993	#256
1975	883	#273
1976	859	#271
1977	802	#295
1978	892	#263
1979	881	#277
1980	840	#297
1981	855	#284
1982	709	#338
1983	592	#376
1984	608	#376
1985	588	#386
1986	544	#408
1987	518	#432
1988	485	#466
1989	412	#551
1990	434	#545
1991	423	#553
1992	390	#589
1993	341	#653
1994	318	#671
1995	296	#708
1996	303	#704
1997	240	#854
1998	246	#864
1999	228	#927
2000	251	#881
2001	270	#849
2002	244	#918
2003	199	#1,111
2004	216	#1,072
2005	220	#1,083
2006	207	#1,180
2007	210	#1,202
2008	186	#1,327
2009	166	#1,419
2010	176	#1,341
2011	169	#1,368
2012	169	#1,382
2013	182	#1,291
2014	171	#1,366
2015	190	#1,283
2016	210	#1,189
2017	207	#1,186
2018	185	#1,254
2019	169	#1,347
2020	185	#1,234
2021	150	#1,437
2022	178	#1,323
2023	164	#1,376
2024	159	#1,404