Recorded 1880–1973 Girls' name Peak 1920 1,802 births

Etha — girls' name

1,802 babies named Etha in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1920. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s1171890s1931900s1991910s3891920s3891930s2211940s1361950s961960s521970s10
1910s
Peak decade

22% of everyone ever named Etha was born in this single decade.

1920
Single peak year

55 babies were named Etha in 1920 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Etha

The Social Security Administration has registered 1,802 babies named Etha between 1880 and 1973, spanning 94 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Etha currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 1973. The name reached its historical peak in 1920, when 55 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Etha performed strongest in the 1910s, accumulating 389 births during that ten-year window. Across the 10 decades of recorded activity, Etha shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Texas, which accounts for 58 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Mississippi and Alabama. In total, SSA state-level files list Etha in 11 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Etha in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 1,802 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Etha at a glance

Last recorded 1973

Total births

1,802

Since 1880

94 years of records

Peak year

1920

55 births that year

Strongest decade: 1910s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 1973

Active since

1880

Recorded for 94 years

Last year on file: 1973

Etha popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1973–1880

Last recorded 1973
Peak year (1920)
55
Annual births at peak — across 94 years of records
0204060 197319561944193219201908189618841880 9

Etha by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1910s
Peak decade
1910s
389 births that decade — 22% of Etha's all-time total
1880s1171890s1931900s1991910s3891920s3891930s2211940s1361950s961960s521970s10

Etha by state

Where Etha concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Etha
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 Texas
58 3.2%
#2 Mississippi
44 2.4%
#3 Alabama
22 1.2%
#4 Georgia
16 0.9%
#5 Kentucky
15 0.8%
#6 South Carolina
7 0.4%
#7 Florida
6 0.3%
#8 Oklahoma
6 0.3%
Texas share of Etha's total US births 3.2%
Even split

58 of 1,802 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 11 reporting states.

Etha appears in 11 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Etha?
1,802 babies have been named Etha since 1880. It was last recorded in 1973. The peak year was 1920 with 55 births.
When was Etha most popular?
Etha was most popular in the 1910s decade with 389 total births. The single peak year was 1920.
Where is Etha most popular?
The top states for the name Etha are Texas (58 births), Mississippi (44 births), Alabama (22 births).
How long has the name Etha been used?
Etha has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 94 years of data through 1973.
What names are similar to Etha?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Ethel, Ethelyn, Ethyl, Ethelene, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–1973 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.