Female name
Rita
1,072 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2016. Expression number: 3.
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.From Wiktionary, entry “Rita”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Rita?
Send them the page about their name.
How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2016: 73 births. 1,072 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2010s and 2020s. It really came into use around 2004. It is still given: 264 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1949: 6,669 births. 285,230 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given steadily, decade after decade, from the 1920s to the 1960s. At its peak, it ranked 42nd among girls' names in 1930. It is still given: 827 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 1964: 106 births. 1,299 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. At its peak, it ranked 59th among girls' names in 1964. It is still given: 29 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 18,096* | 1915–2025 | — |
| France | 8,815 | 1900–2025 | — |
| Argentina | 2,075 | 2012–2023 | — |
| Quebec | 734 | 1980–2025 | — |
| Austria | 680 | 1984–2025 | — |
| Berlin | 202 | 2012–2023 | — |
| Belgium | 45 | 2014–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; RENAPER, Nombres propios en Argentina, CC BY 4.0 (the registry doesn't record sex); Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first); Statbel, first names of newborns, CC BY 4.0 (one total for the whole period, no yearly breakdown).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
3
expression, creativity, sociability
9 + 9 + 2 + 1 = 21 → 3
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
9 + 1 = 10 → 1
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
11
intuition and inspiration (master number)
9 + 2 = 11
- Digits missing from the name
- 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
- Most frequent digit
- 9 · humanity, generosity, completion
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.