Girls' name · since 1880
Retta
Retta has 3,399 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1922 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.
- #3,320 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #11,935 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 3,399
- born since 1880
- 1950s
- peak decade
Retta currently ranks #11935 among girls' names in America, with 3,399 babies recorded since 1880.
Retta has 3,399 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #11935 as of the latest data, more common than 31% of girls, busiest in the 1950s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #3,320 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #11,935 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 3,399 born since 1880
- 1950s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Retta ranks #3,320 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #11,935 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 3,399 born since 1880, peaking in the 1950s.
- #3,320 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #11,935 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 3,399
- born since 1880
- 1950s
- peak decade
Retta's 3,399 recorded births place it above 95.41% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
16 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by Texas.
How Retta compares
3,399 Top 17% higher than 83% 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
Retta's all-time total is 9x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Retta | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 3,399 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 60 | 21 | 19,840 |
Retta's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Retta splits its recorded history at 1939: 41% of all births land in the more recent half, 59% in the earlier half, an evenly balanced pattern over time. The single quietest year was 1978 (5 births) -- compare that against the 1922 peak of 60 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.
Retta popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (1922)
- 60
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Retta by decade
1950s is the heaviest window (482 births, 14% of the file).
1950s was Retta's strongest decade.
482 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 14% of all-time use.
Retta births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s
1880s
249 births
- 1890s
1890s
294 births
- 1900s
1900s
276 births
- 1910s
1910s
334 births
- 1920s
1920s
443 births
- 1930s
1930s
437 births
- 1940s
1940s
435 births
- 1950s
1950s
482 births
- 1960s
1960s
225 births
- 1970s 101
1970s
101 births
- 1980s 42
1980s
42 births
- 1990s 16
1990s
16 births
- 2000s 5
2000s
5 births
- 2010s 28
2010s
28 births
- 2020s 32
2020s
32 births
What this shows Peak: 1950s at 482 births (14% of all-time use).
How Retta 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 Retta's total volume
Retta by state
Where Retta concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Texas | | 61 | 1.8% |
| #2 | Oklahoma | | 37 | 1.1% |
| #3 | Tennessee | | 33 | 1.0% |
| #4 | West Virginia | | 24 | 0.7% |
| #5 | Pennsylvania | | 20 | 0.6% |
| #6 | Kentucky | | 12 | 0.4% |
| #7 | North Carolina | | 11 | 0.3% |
| #8 | California | | 10 | 0.3% |
61 of 3,399 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 16 reporting states.
Retta appears in 16 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Retta? ▼
Where does Retta sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Retta most popular? ▼
Where is Retta most popular? ▼
How long has the name Retta been used? ▼
What names are similar to Retta? ▼
What to do with Retta's data
- Retta's decade-level peak was the 1950s (482 total births); usage has since declined to 32 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- Texas records the most Rettas (61 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. Texas names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Retta
Nearby Names Like Retta
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Retta
Compare Retta side by side: Retta vs Retha Retta vs Reta Retta vs Retal
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Retta
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Retta: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1922)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
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 Retta 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.