Anita
Anita was given to 165 girls in 2025, #1,342 among girls’ names; 215,849 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 136,000 Americans named Anita and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (63% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 56 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Anita by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Anita mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Anita is “a female given name from Spanish.” Its etymology gives the sense “Ann” (Ana).
From Spanish Anita, diminutive of Ana (“Ann”).
/əˈniːtə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Anita?
#1,342 among girls’ names, 2025
Anita rose from #1,521 in 2015 to #1,342 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.08 to 0.10 per 1,000.
5,831 babies in 1957, the peak
Anita peaked in 1957, when 5,831 babies were given it (5,811 girls, #81 among girls’ names). The 165 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 165 | #1,342 | 0.10 |
| 2024 | 149 | #1,467 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 155 | #1,439 | 0.10 |
| 2022 | 168 | #1,373 | 0.10 |
| 2021 | 154 | #1,410 | 0.09 |
| 2020 | 138 | #1,534 | 0.09 |
| 2019 | 191 | #1,230 | 0.11 |
| 2018 | 172 | #1,319 | 0.10 |
| 2017 | 188 | #1,258 | 0.11 |
| 2016 | 175 | #1,353 | 0.10 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 148 | #1,521 | 0.08 |
| 2014 | 164 | #1,400 | 0.09 |
| 2013 | 151 | #1,470 | 0.09 |
| 2012 | 151 | #1,491 | 0.09 |
| 2011 | 181 | #1,301 | 0.10 |
| 2010 | 174 | #1,349 | 0.10 |
| 2009 | 199 | #1,242 | 0.11 |
| 2008 | 238 | #1,090 | 0.13 |
| 2007 | 211 | #1,196 | 0.11 |
| 2006 | 212 | #1,151 | 0.11 |
| 2005 | 223 | #1,067 | 0.12 |
| 2004 | 266 | #908 | 0.14 |
| 2003 | 245 | #954 | 0.13 |
| 2002 | 266 | #863 | 0.15 |
| 2001 | 297 | #795 | 0.16 |
| 2000 | 314 | #736 | 0.17 |
| 1999 | 321 | #705 | 0.18 |
| 1998 | 351 | #657 | 0.20 |
| 1997 | 407 | #571 | 0.23 |
| 1996 | 394 | #581 | 0.22 |
| 1995 | 400 | #573 | 0.23 |
| 1994 | 438 | #552 | 0.25 |
| 1993 | 491 | #502 | 0.27 |
| 1992 | 547 | #454 | 0.30 |
| 1991 | 580 | #439 | 0.31 |
| 1990 | 642 | #404 | 0.34 |
| 1989 | 677 | #374 | 0.37 |
| 1988 | 718 | #344 | 0.40 |
| 1987 | 737 | #333 | 0.42 |
| 1986 | 745 | #323 | 0.43 |
| 1985 | 738 | #323 | 0.43 |
| 1984 | 863 | #280 | 0.51 |
| 1983 | 899 | #268 | 0.54 |
| 1982 | 1,010 | #248 | 0.60 |
| 1981 | 1,056 | #236 | 0.63 |
| 1980 | 1,151 | #223 | 0.69 |
| 1979 | 1,139 | #230 | 0.71 |
| 1978 | 1,221 | #210 | 0.80 |
| 1977 | 1,512 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1976 | 1,508 | #167 | 1.0 |
| 1975 | 1,722 | #157 | 1.2 |
| 1974 | 1,936 | #144 | 1.3 |
| 1973 | 1,986 | #142 | 1.4 |
| 1972 | 2,230 | #136 | 1.5 |
| 1971 | 2,685 | #127 | 1.6 |
| 1970 | 2,895 | #127 | 1.7 |
| 1969 | 2,919 | #120 | 1.7 |
| 1968 | 3,047 | #109 | 1.9 |
| 1967 | 3,518 | #98 | 2.1 |
| 1966 | 3,872 | #88 | 2.3 |
| 1965 | 4,017 | #94 | 2.3 |
| 1964 | 4,909 | #85 | 2.6 |
| 1963 | 5,473 | #77 | 2.8 |
| 1962 | 5,521 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1961 | 5,503 | #91 | 2.7 |
| 1960 | 5,637 | #87 | 2.8 |
| 1959 | 5,474 | #87 | 2.7 |
| 1958 | 5,774 | #82 | 2.9 |
| 1957 | 5,811 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1956 | 5,505 | #83 | 2.7 |
| 1955 | 4,718 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1954 | 4,408 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1953 | 4,407 | #89 | 2.3 |
| 1952 | 4,134 | #91 | 2.2 |
| 1951 | 3,785 | #96 | 2.1 |
| 1950 | 3,572 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 1949 | 3,591 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 1948 | 3,615 | #102 | 2.1 |
| 1947 | 4,187 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1946 | 4,027 | #84 | 2.6 |
| 1945 | 2,768 | #100 | 2.1 |
| 1944 | 2,825 | #95 | 2.1 |
| 1943 | 2,952 | #98 | 2.1 |
| 1942 | 2,998 | #93 | 2.2 |
| 1941 | 2,740 | #91 | 2.3 |
| 1940 | 2,828 | #87 | 2.5 |
| 1939 | 2,588 | #97 | 2.4 |
| 1938 | 2,636 | #99 | 2.4 |
| 1937 | 2,714 | #93 | 2.6 |
| 1936 | 2,304 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1935 | 1,932 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1934 | 1,784 | #130 | 1.7 |
| 1933 | 1,905 | #116 | 1.9 |
| 1932 | 2,098 | #116 | 2.0 |
| 1931 | 2,080 | #117 | 2.0 |
| 1930 | 2,183 | #115 | 1.9 |
| 1929 | 1,977 | #125 | 1.8 |
| 1928 | 1,725 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1927 | 1,629 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 1926 | 1,617 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 1925 | 1,764 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1924 | 1,853 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 1923 | 1,868 | #138 | 1.5 |
| 1922 | 1,761 | #141 | 1.5 |
| 1921 | 1,924 | #134 | 1.6 |
| 1920 | 1,934 | #131 | 1.6 |
| 1919 | 1,504 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 1918 | 1,482 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1917 | 1,573 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1916 | 1,339 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1915 | 1,116 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1914 | 720 | #186 | 0.95 |
| 1913 | 562 | #193 | 0.90 |
| 1912 | 540 | #182 | 1.0 |
| 1911 | 381 | #187 | 0.91 |
| 1910 | 338 | #195 | 0.85 |
| 1909 | 291 | #199 | 0.84 |
| 1908 | 277 | #202 | 0.83 |
| 1907 | 242 | #209 | 0.76 |
| 1906 | 215 | #211 | 0.73 |
| 1905 | 209 | #214 | 0.72 |
| 1904 | 190 | #220 | 0.69 |
| 1903 | 202 | #208 | 0.77 |
| 1902 | 163 | #238 | 0.62 |
| 1901 | 184 | #210 | 0.77 |
| 1900 | 176 | #242 | 0.59 |
| 1899 | 142 | #230 | 0.61 |
| 1898 | 198 | #207 | 0.77 |
| 1897 | 144 | #230 | 0.61 |
| 1896 | 139 | #234 | 0.58 |
| 1895 | 126 | #248 | 0.54 |
| 1894 | 107 | #266 | 0.48 |
| 1893 | 119 | #241 | 0.56 |
| 1892 | 82 | #299 | 0.39 |
| 1891 | 66 | #310 | 0.36 |
| 1890 | 68 | #301 | 0.36 |
| 1889 | 69 | #285 | 0.39 |
| 1888 | 59 | #311 | 0.33 |
| 1887 | 41 | #332 | 0.28 |
| 1886 | 40 | #338 | 0.28 |
| 1885 | 34 | #341 | 0.26 |
| 1884 | 36 | #326 | 0.28 |
| 1883 | 27 | #344 | 0.24 |
| 1882 | 20 | #407 | 0.19 |
| 1881 | 23 | #338 | 0.25 |
| 1880 | 16 | #423 | 0.18 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Anita a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Anita has been given almost only to girls: 684 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Anita: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Anita, and how old are they?
136,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 63% of the 215,849 Americans ever recorded as Anita. The median Anita alive today is 65 years old; half are between 56 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 164,324 people named Anita (164,151 women and girls, 173 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 150,941 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 13,900 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 70,900 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 34,500 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 10,700 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,010 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,110 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Anita born?
The states with the most babies named Anita are California, New York and Texas, with 26% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 18,245 | #970 | 1.1× |
| New York | 17,996 | #1,670 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 17,734 | #1,462 | 1.4× |
| Illinois | 11,398 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 10,755 | #1,247 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 10,343 | #1,467 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 6,987 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Indiana | 6,257 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| North Carolina | 5,919 | #1,289 | 0.9× |
| Tennessee | 5,340 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Anita is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Anita is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 1.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Anita with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 219,641 babies since 1880, Anita is the most given (98% of them). In 2025 it was given to 165 of their 188 babies (88%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Anita
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Anita and names like it
- Compare Anita and AnnitaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sAnita peaked in 1957.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Anita since 1910.
- Spanish namesWiktionary’s origin for Anita: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1957The year the most babies were named Anita.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Anita alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with AMost given first.