Coretta
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "little ring" or "crown".
Name Census estimates that about 1,975 living Americans carry the first name Coretta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Coretta today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coretta births was 1968 (336 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coretta. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,547 Americans
Peak year
1968
336 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,744
Tracked since 1909
Popularity
Coretta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coretta from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 692 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coretta by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Coretta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Corettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the most babies named Coretta, while Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 41 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Coretta
The name Coretta is derived from the Italian word "cora," which means "little girl." It has its roots in the Latin word "cor," meaning "heart." The name first emerged in Italy during the Middle Ages and was initially used as a diminutive form of the name Cora.
Coretta gained popularity in Italy during the Renaissance period, particularly among the upper-class families. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the Italian poet and scholar Petrarch, who lived from 1304 to 1374. He dedicated a few of his sonnets to a woman named Coretta, whom he admired.
In the 16th century, the name Coretta appeared in several religious texts and records, indicating its use among the Christian community. One notable example is Saint Coretta of Modena, an Italian nun who lived from 1544 to 1621 and was known for her charitable works and devotion to the poor.
As the name spread across Europe, it gained popularity in other countries, with variations such as Corette in France and Coretta in Spain. One of the earliest examples of the name in English literature can be found in the play "The Widow's Tears" by George Chapman, which was published in 1612. The play features a character named Coretta.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Coretta:
1. Coretta Scott King (1927-2006), an American author, activist, and civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.
2. Coretta LeSeure (1905-1976), an American actress and singer who appeared in several films during the 1930s and 1940s.
3. Coretta Brown (1913-1985), an American blues singer and songwriter, known for her contributions to the Chicago blues scene.
4. Coretta Arle (1908-1977), an Italian actress who appeared in numerous Italian films during the 1940s and 1950s.
5. Coretta Gillard (born 1974), an Australian politician and former Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013.
While the name Coretta has its origins in Italy, it has gained global recognition and has been used across various cultures and ethnicities, particularly in the United States, where it became more widely known due to the influence of Coretta Scott King.
People
Coretta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coretta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Coretta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coretta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,975 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coretta going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 173,547 US residents.
Is Coretta a common name?
We classify Coretta as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coretta most popular?
The single biggest year for Coretta was 1968, when 336 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coretta is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Coretta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coretta in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.