Marita
A feminine form of the name Marie, of Latin origin meaning "star of the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 3,077 living Americans carry the first name Marita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marita today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marita births was 1954 (125 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marita. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Marita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 111,392 Americans
Peak year
1954
125 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,734
Tracked since 1901
Census
Marita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,511 people with the first name Marita, which placed it at #3,687 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
#3,687
National first-name rank
People counted
5.5K
5,511 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marita is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.0%) and Hispanic (11.5%). 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 Marita 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 Marita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.2% · 3,372
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.0% · 772
- Hispanic or Latino11.5% · 635
- Black or African American9.2% · 508
- Two or more races2.1% · 118
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 106
Popularity
Marita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marita from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,056 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
Marita 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 Marita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maritas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Marita, while Minnesota, Maine, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marita
The name Marita is a feminine given name with roots in several languages and cultures. It is believed to have originated as a Spanish diminutive form of the name María, which is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam or Mariam. The name María itself has its origins in the Egyptian word "mr" meaning "beloved" or "beloved lady."
Another possible origin of Marita is as a diminutive of the Italian name Marietta, which is also derived from María. In this context, the suffix "-ita" is a common Italian diminutive ending used to convey endearment or affection.
Marita has been a popular name throughout various regions of Europe, particularly in Spain, Italy, and Latin America. In some Slavic languages, such as Russian and Czech, the name Marita is also used, often as a variant of the name Margarita.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marita can be found in the work of renowned Italian poet Dante Alighieri. In his masterpiece "The Divine Comedy," written in the early 14th century, Dante mentions a character named Marita in the Purgatorio section of the epic poem.
Another notable historical figure with the name Marita was Marita Petersen (1904-2001), a Danish actress and singer who gained fame in the early 20th century for her performances in numerous films and stage productions.
In the literary world, Marita Bonner (1899-1971) was an influential African American writer and playwright known for her contributions to the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 1930s.
In the realm of politics, Marita Candida Coelho (1908-1964) was a prominent Brazilian politician and women's rights activist who served as a member of the National Congress of Brazil from 1955 to 1964.
Another notable figure with the name Marita was Marita Koch (born 1957), a former East German athlete and Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter and 4x400-meter relay events during the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have been bestowed with the name Marita, a name that has transcended cultures and languages, carrying with it a sense of beauty, affection, and endearment.
People
Marita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marita 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
Marita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,077 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marita 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 111,392 US residents.
Is Marita a common name?
We classify Marita as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,071 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marita most popular?
The single biggest year for Marita was 1954, when 125 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marita is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,511 people with the name Marita, or 1.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,687 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 Marita 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 Marita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marita appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,506 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Marita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marita is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.0%) and Hispanic (11.5%). 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 Marita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (3,372 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 Marita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marita 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 Marita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marita 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 Marita 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 the name Marita?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.