Maretta
A feminine name derived from the French term "mer" meaning "sea".
Name Census estimates that about 496 living Americans carry the first name Maretta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maretta today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maretta births was 1950 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maretta. 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
496
~ 1 in 691,037 Americans
Peak year
1950
25 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2014 SSA rank
#15,847
Tracked since 1898
Census
Maretta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 623 people with the first name Maretta, which placed it at #17,614 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
#17,614
National first-name rank
People counted
623
623 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maretta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maretta is White at 58.1%. The next largest groups are Black (31.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.0%). 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 Maretta 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 Maretta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.1% · 362
- Black or African American31.5% · 196
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.0% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 15
- Two or more races2.1% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 12
Popularity
Maretta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maretta from the 1890s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 174 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maretta 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 Maretta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marettas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maretta
The name Maretta is believed to have originated from the Italian language. Its roots can be traced back to the late Middle Ages, around the 14th or 15th century. The name is thought to be a diminutive or feminine form of the Italian name Maria, which was derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam or Mariam.
One theory suggests that Maretta may have been a nickname or pet name used for women named Maria, as it was common practice in Italy during that time to create diminutive forms of names as terms of endearment. Another possible origin of the name is that it was derived from the Italian word "maretta," meaning a slight breeze or gentle ripple on the surface of the sea.
In terms of historical references, there are limited records of the name Maretta being used in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, some early records of the name can be found in Italian Renaissance literature and historical documents from the 16th and 17th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Maretta is in the work of the Italian poet and playwright Giambattista Basile, who lived from 1566 to 1632. In his collection of fairy tales titled "Lo Cunto de li Cunti" (The Story of Stories), he included a character named Maretta.
Another notable historical figure with the name Maretta was Maretta Petrucci (1492-1558), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who was a member of the powerful Petrucci family in Siena, Italy. She was known for her patronage of artists and her role in the cultural life of Siena during the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, Maretta Ventura (1618-1696) was an Italian painter and engraver who was active in Rome and is known for her religious paintings and etchings.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Maretta Landi (1718-1792) was an Italian poet and translator from Milan. She was a member of the Accademia dei Trasformati, a literary society in Milan.
In the 19th century, Maretta Angelini (1843-1929) was an Italian operatic soprano who performed in various operas across Europe, including at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
While these are some of the notable historical figures with the name Maretta, it is important to note that the name was likely used more commonly among ordinary Italian families during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, particularly in regions like Tuscany, Lazio, and Lombardy.
People
Maretta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maretta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maretta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maretta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 496 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maretta 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 691,037 US residents.
Is Maretta a common name?
We classify Maretta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 896 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maretta most popular?
The single biggest year for Maretta was 1950, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maretta is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maretta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 623 people with the name Maretta, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,614 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 Maretta 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 Maretta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maretta appears almost entirely female. Of the 619 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Maretta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maretta is White at 58.1%. The next largest groups are Black (31.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (4.0%). 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 Maretta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maretta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.1% (362 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 Maretta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maretta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maretta 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 Maretta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maretta 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 Maretta 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 have Maretta as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.