Lorretta
Feminine form of the late Latin name Laurentia, derived from laurus meaning "laurel".
Name Census estimates that about 1,364 living Americans carry the first name Lorretta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lorretta today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorretta births was 1957 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorretta. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 251,286 Americans
Peak year
1957
62 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2000 SSA rank
#16,516
Tracked since 1893
Popularity
Lorretta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorretta from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 484 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorretta 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 Lorretta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorrettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Illinois, Michigan recorded the most babies named Lorretta, while Virginia, Minnesota, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorretta
Lorretta is a feminine given name that derives from the Latin word "laurus," meaning "laurel." The laurel plant was an emblem of victory, honor, and achievement in ancient Roman culture. This name emerged during the medieval period in various Romance language regions influenced by Latin.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Lorretta can be traced back to the 13th century in Italy. It was a diminutive form of the Italian name Lauretta, which itself was derived from the Latin name Laurentia. Laurentia was the name of a legendary Roman woman who nursed the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
In the 16th century, the name Lorretta gained popularity in Spain, where it was spelled as Loretta. It was also used in France, where it was sometimes spelled as Laurette or Lorette. The French variation Lorette was associated with the Loreto region in Italy, known for its famous Catholic shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Lorretta was Loretta de' Monaldeschi, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. Another notable figure was Loretta Vittori (1590-1668), an Italian Benedictine nun and mystic who was known for her visions and spiritual writings.
In the 17th century, the name Lorretta gained popularity in English-speaking regions. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Loretta de' Medici (1582-1642), a member of the influential Medici family and a patron of the arts in Florence, Italy.
Other notable historical figures with the name Lorretta include Loretta Ann Hickok (1893-1968), an American journalist and close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Loretta Young (1913-2000), an American actress who won an Academy Award and had a successful career in television.
People
Lorretta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorretta 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
Lorretta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorretta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorretta 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 251,286 US residents.
Is Lorretta a common name?
We classify Lorretta as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,708 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorretta most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorretta was 1957, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorretta is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lorretta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lorretta 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.