Laretta
Feminine form of the Italian name Lara, meaning "great" or "crowned one".
Name Census estimates that about 315 living Americans carry the first name Laretta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laretta today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laretta births was 1956 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laretta. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Laretta is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Larettas were born before 1971.
People living today
315
~ 1 in 1,088,109 Americans
Peak year
1956
20 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,557
Tracked since 1909
Census
Laretta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 396 people with the first name Laretta, which placed it at #24,370 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,370
National first-name rank
People counted
396
396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laretta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laretta is White at 56.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Laretta described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Laretta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.8% · 225
- Black or African American35.6% · 141
- Two or more races3.8% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 7
Popularity
Laretta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laretta from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 130 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laretta 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 Laretta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Laretta
Laretta is a feminine given name derived from the Late Latin name Lauretta, which is a diminutive form of the name Laura. The name Laura itself originates from the Latin word "laurus," meaning "laurel." The laurel plant was associated with victory and honor in ancient Rome, where it was used to make crowns for military leaders and poets.
The earliest recorded use of the name Laretta dates back to the 13th century in Italy. During the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Italy and France. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Laretta Petrucci, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 15th century and was known for her patronage of the arts.
In the 16th century, the name Laretta appeared in several literary works, including the play "La Calandria" by the Italian playwright Cardinal Bibbiena. The play featured a character named Laretta, which helped to further popularize the name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Laretta. One of the most famous was Laretta Petrie Whipple (1839-1925), an American educator and philanthropist who founded the Whipple Academy in Jacksonville, Illinois.
Another notable bearer of the name was Laretta Adair Hendrix (1886-1975), an American writer and journalist who worked for various publications, including the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.
In the 20th century, Laretta Bode (1903-1990) was a Dutch-American artist known for her abstract expressionist paintings and her association with the New York School of artists.
Laretta Anderson (1914-1965) was an American actress who appeared in several films and television shows during the 1940s and 1950s, including the popular sitcom "I Love Lucy."
Laretta Ricciardelli (born 1958) is an Italian former professional tennis player who won several singles and doubles titles on the WTA Tour during her career.
While the name Laretta has roots in ancient Rome and gained popularity during the Renaissance, it has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout history. However, its connection to the laurel plant and its associations with victory, honor, and artistic expression have made it a distinctive and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Laretta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laretta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Laretta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laretta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 315 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laretta 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 1,088,109 US residents.
Is Laretta a common name?
We classify Laretta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 655 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laretta most popular?
The single biggest year for Laretta was 1956, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laretta is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laretta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 396 people with the name Laretta, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,370 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Laretta in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Laretta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laretta appears almost entirely female. Of the 395 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Laretta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laretta is White at 56.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Laretta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Laretta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.8% (225 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Laretta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laretta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laretta 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.
Is Laretta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laretta in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Laretta can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Laretta?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Laretta at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.