girl's name
Rita
REE-tuh
- Origin Greek
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 297,902
France
#274
2025 births
Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front. Its strongest market is France at 274th rather than any English-speaking country, and our data marks it stable across six markets.
- Rita is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 1949, when 6,669 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 19,054 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Rita 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 | 325 |
| 1890s | 1,029 |
| 1900s | 1,992 |
| 1910s | 23,881 |
| 1920s | 50,724 |
| 1930s | 38,922 |
| 1940s | 49,992 |
| 1950s | 60,390 |
| 1960s | 32,989 |
| 1970s | 10,590 |
| 1980s | 6,166 |
| 1990s | 3,221 |
| 2000s | 2,169 |
| 2010s | 1,828 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,012 |
What Rita means
Rita means pearl, carried through Margarita from the Greek. A separate Sanskrit word ṛta, meaning cosmic order or truth, is an unrelated source used in Indian naming.
Where Rita comes from
Rita is the tail end of Margarita, the Spanish and Italian form of Margaret, from the Greek margarites — a pearl. Like Sandra and Xander it takes the back half of the name rather than the front. Saint Rita of Cascia, a fifteenth-century widow who became an Augustinian nun and is patron of impossible causes, made the short form a name in its own right across Catholic Europe. A quite separate Rita exists in Indian naming from the Sanskrit ṛta, the cosmic order that governs truth and ritual — an important concept in the Rigveda and wholly unconnected to the pearl.
Rita in use
Rita peaked in the United States in 1949, when 6,669 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. Its strongest market is France at 274th on 200 births, ahead of 460th in Scotland, 726th in England and Wales on 51, 831st in Ireland and 1290th in the United States on 174, across 297,902 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Rita?
In 2025, Rita was given to 174 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Rita 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 Rita
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Rita also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Rita over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Rita 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.
Sibling names for Rita
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Rita — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Rita
What does the name Rita mean?
Pearl, clipped from Margarita. A separate Sanskrit Rita means cosmic order and is unrelated.
Is Rita short for Margarita?
Yes — it takes the end of the name rather than the beginning, like Sandra from Alessandra.
Who was Saint Rita?
A fifteenth-century Augustinian nun of Cascia, patron of impossible causes.
How popular is Rita?
274th in France, its strongest market, and 1290th in the United States.
Is Rita a girl's or a boy's name?
Rita is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Rita?
Rita has 2 syllables.
Is Rita a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Rita currently ranks #274 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.