How rare is the name Loretta?

91,196 people in the United States have the first name Loretta, about 1 in 3,312. It ranks #583 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

LORETTA

#583

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
91,196
About
1 in 3,312
This common or more
61.3%
Who bears it

Of the 91,196 people named Loretta, 72.3% reported their origin as White, 16.8% as Black and 5.7% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Loretta peaked in 1938, when 3,931 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1938
Births that year
3,931
In 2025*
485 ▼88%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 178,066 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Loretta by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #146. The largest share of babies named Loretta, 31.1%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#3111,036
1890s#1873,382
1900s#1705,151
1910s#20514,607
1920s#22021,133
1930s#14631,682
1940s#20030,204
1950s#24930,474
1960s#32122,150
1970s#5358,650
1980s#1,0743,284
1990s#2,1881,380
2000s#3,496932
2010s#2,3661,804
2020s#1,4682,197
Before 19012.8%
Greatest Generation 1901–2720.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4530.5%
Baby boom 1946–6431.1%
Generation X 1965–8010%
Millennials 1981–962.2%
Generation Z 1997–120.9%
2013 and later2.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Loretta is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Loretta has been most common in West Virginia (2.4×), North Dakota (1.8×), and New Mexico (1.8×), and least common in Nevada (0.13×).

164,382 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Loretta

#581 Christy · 91,660#582 Andy · 91,633#584 Blanca · 91,179#585 Clayton · 91,105

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Loretta, most common first.

#7,375 Loreto · 2,075#7,546 Loreta · 2,011#9,443 Lorretta · 1,470#10,628 Lorita · 1,242#12,965 Loretha · 943#13,920 Lorette · 856#24,812 Loretto · 386#38,893 Lorreta · 196

Also a last name

As a last name, Loretta ranks #68,789 of 156,621, with 308 people. See Loretta as a last name

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