girl's name
Anita
uh-NEE-tuh
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 251,046
Northern Ireland
#524
2010 births
Anita is a girl's name, the Spanish diminutive of Ana, meaning grace. Our data marks it stable, and its strongest market is France at 863rd rather than any Spanish-speaking or English-speaking country at all.
- Anita is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 1957, when 5,831 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 20,093 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Anita over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 365 |
| 1890s | 1,191 |
| 1900s | 2,149 |
| 1910s | 9,563 |
| 1920s | 18,114 |
| 1930s | 22,335 |
| 1940s | 32,646 |
| 1950s | 47,698 |
| 1960s | 44,556 |
| 1970s | 18,915 |
| 1980s | 8,645 |
| 1990s | 4,577 |
| 2000s | 2,471 |
| 2010s | 1,695 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 929 |
What Anita means
Anita means grace, or favor shown, carried through Ana from the Hebrew Hannah. The -ita ending is a Spanish diminutive and adds a sense of smallness or affection.
Where Anita comes from
Anita is the Spanish diminutive of Ana, from the Hebrew Hannah — grace, or favor freely given. Hannah in the Book of Samuel prays for a child and is granted Samuel, so the name carries the sense of a petition answered. The -ita ending is the Spanish diminutive that also gives Juanita, Margarita and Rosita. Anita reached English-speaking countries in the nineteenth century and became independent of Ana, and Anita Garibaldi, the Brazilian revolutionary who fought alongside her husband Giuseppe and died at twenty-eight in 1849, is its most consequential bearer.
Anita in use
Anita peaked in the United States in 1957, when 5,831 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 863rd in France on 45 births, 1347th in the United States on 165 and 2405th in England and Wales, across 251,046 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. France gives it the strongest position of the three, which is unexpected for a Spanish diminutive.
How popular is Anita?
In 2025, Anita was given to 165 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Anita is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Anita
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Anita also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Anita over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Anita
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Anita in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Armenian
- Anna
- Catalan
- Anna
- Danish
- Anna
- Finnish
- Anitta
- Galician
- Ana
- Hebrew
- Anna
- Hungarian
- Anna
- Icelandic
- Aneta
- Italian
- Anna
- Japanese
- Anna
- Portuguese
- Ana
- Romanian
- Ana
- Seediq
- Ana
- Slovene
- Ana
- Spanish
- Ana
- Swedish
- Anna
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Agnita
Sibling names for Anita
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Anita — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Anita
What does the name Anita mean?
Grace, carried through Ana from the Hebrew Hannah.
Is Anita short for Ana?
It is the Spanish diminutive of Ana, and has been used independently since the nineteenth century.
Who was Anita Garibaldi?
A Brazilian revolutionary who fought alongside Giuseppe Garibaldi and died at twenty-eight in 1849.
How popular is Anita?
863rd in France, its strongest market, and 1347th in the United States.
Is Anita a girl's or a boy's name?
Anita is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Anita?
Anita has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Anita?
Anita is usually shortened to Nita.
Is Anita a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Anita currently ranks #785 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.