Netta
A feminine name of biblical Hebrew origin meaning "plant" or "sapling".
Name Census estimates that about 416 living Americans carry the first name Netta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Netta today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Netta births was 1922 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Netta. 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 Netta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
416
~ 1 in 823,929 Americans
Peak year
1922
23 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,430
Tracked since 1880
Census
Netta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 666 people with the first name Netta, which placed it at #16,791 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
#16,791
National first-name rank
People counted
666
666 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Netta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Netta is White at 68.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.8%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Netta 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 Netta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.8% · 458
- Black or African American22.8% · 152
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 23
- Two or more races2.4% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
Popularity
Netta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Netta from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 155 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Netta 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 Netta 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 Netta
The name Netta has its origins in various languages and cultures, with its earliest known roots dating back to ancient times. In Hebrew, the name is derived from the word "netah," meaning "plant" or "sapling," symbolizing growth and vitality. It is also believed to be a diminutive form of the name Netta in Russian and other Slavic languages, where it is a pet form of longer names like Nadezhda or Natalya.
One of the earliest known references to the name Netta can be found in ancient Greek mythology, where it was associated with the nymph Netta, a companion of the goddess Artemis. This association with nature and fertility further solidifies the name's connection to the concept of growth and renewal.
In the historical records, one of the earliest known bearers of the name Netta was Netta of Bambyce, a 4th-century Christian saint and martyr from Syria. She was revered for her unwavering faith and her dedication to spreading the teachings of Christianity, even in the face of persecution.
Another notable figure in history was Netta Muskett (1887-1963), a New Zealand novelist and playwright. Her works, which often explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of women, played a significant role in shaping the literary landscape of her time.
Moving forward in time, Netta Franklin (1905-1998) was an American civil rights activist and educator. She worked tirelessly to promote equal rights and educational opportunities for African Americans, particularly in the segregated South.
In the realm of sports, Netta Rhynold (born 1926) was a Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. Her achievements as a hurdler and sprinter earned her a place in the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.
More recently, Netta Barzilai (born 1993) is an Israeli singer and songwriter who gained international recognition by winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 with her hit song "Toy." Her unique style and powerful performance captivated audiences worldwide, further popularizing the name Netta on a global scale.
People
Netta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Netta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Netta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Netta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 416 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Netta 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 823,929 US residents.
Is Netta a common name?
We classify Netta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Netta most popular?
The single biggest year for Netta was 1922, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Netta is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Netta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 666 people with the name Netta, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,791 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 Netta 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 Netta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Netta leans strongly female. 651 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 12 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Netta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Netta is White at 68.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.8%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Netta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Netta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.8% (458 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 Netta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Netta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Netta 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 Netta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Netta 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 Netta 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 Netta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.