Girls' name · since 1880

Etta

43,268 babies named Etta 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.

#661 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#928 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
43,268
born since 1880
1920s
peak decade

Etta currently ranks #928 among girls' names in America, with 43,268 babies recorded since 1880.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Etta has been recorded 43,268 times among girls since 1880, currently ranked #928 nationally and more common than 95% of girls, with its heaviest use in the 1920s. This profile covers year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution, all derived directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #661 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #928 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 43,268 born since 1880
  • 1920s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Etta ranks #661 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #928 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 43,268 born since 1880, peaking in the 1920s.

#661 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#928 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
43,268
born since 1880
1920s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%94.6%
Etta vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Etta's 43,268 recorded births place it above 99.08% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

46 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

46 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by North Carolina.

How Etta compares

43,268 Top 4% higher than 96% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Etta's all-time total is 115x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Etta Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 43,268 376 567,345
Peak-year births 803 21 19,840

Etta's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Divide Etta's SSA record in two at 1953 and the more recent half accounts for 19% of all births, the earlier half the remaining 81%, consistent with a name more common in the past than in recent years. Its calmest year was 2001, with only 7 births recorded -- set against the 1920 peak of 803, that's the full swing in one name's fortunes.

Etta popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Top 1,000 girls' name
Peak year (1920)
803
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
02004006008001,000 188018991918193719561975199420132025 281

Etta popularity over time - boys

23 total births recorded since 1915 (Etta as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 23 births
4.555.566.577.5 1915192519261935 6

Etta by decade

1920s is the heaviest window (6,961 births, 16% of the file).

1920s was Etta's strongest decade.

6,961 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 16% of all-time use.

Etta births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1920s at 6,961 births (16% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Etta compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Etta's total volume

Etta vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%5%10%15% 050100150200 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -82, 11%-129, 3.3%-142, 5.6%-54, 5.2%-146, 2.1%-60, 5.7%-110, 2.5%-146, 1.5%-146, 4.3%-141, 3.2%-102, 5.5%-86, 4.7%-120, 7.3%-86, 8.7%-106, 5.3%Etta-146, 1.9%Etta
Etta vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Etta by state

Where Etta concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Etta
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 North Carolina
2,114 4.9%
#2 Texas
2,055 4.7%
#3 New York
1,463 3.4%
#4 Tennessee
1,371 3.2%
#5 Kentucky
1,317 3.0%
#6 Alabama
1,199 2.8%
#7 Virginia
1,183 2.7%
#8 Mississippi
1,117 2.6%
North Carolina share of Etta's total US births 4.9%
Even split

2,114 of 43,268 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 46 reporting states.

Etta appears in 46 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Etta?
Since 1880, Social Security records show 43,268 babies named Etta. Across the full SSA archive it ranks #661 of 72,339 girls' names by total births. In 2025, it holds #928 of 17,297 among girls. Its busiest year on record was 1920, with 803 births.
Where does Etta sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Etta ranks #661 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #928 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Etta most popular?
Etta was most popular in the 1920s decade with 6,961 total births. The single peak year was 1920.
Where is Etta most popular?
The top states for the name Etta are North Carolina (2,114 births), Texas (2,055 births), New York (1,463 births).
How long has the name Etta been used?
Etta has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 146 years of data through 2025.
What names are similar to Etta?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Ettie, Etty, Etter, Ettel, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Etta's data

  • Etta's decade-level peak was the 1920s (6,961 total births); usage has since declined to 1,651 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • North Carolina records the most Ettas (2,114 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. North Carolina names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Etta

Nearby Names Like Etta

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Etta

Names with a similar popularity rank to Etta

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Etta: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Etta draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.