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Loretta

girl name
Origin
Italian
Syllables
3
Peak era
1900s/1950s
Today
▬ Steady

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Meaning

variant of Laura, laurel, or linked to the Marian shrine of Loreto; immortalized by Loretta Castorini in Moonstruck (1987)

The story

Loretta is Italian, usually explained as a flowering of Laura, the laurel, though some tie it instead to Loreto, the Marian shrine on Italy's Adriatic coast. It was a thoroughly American favorite through the first half of the twentieth century, holding strong from the 1900s into the 1950s before beginning a long, gentle descent. Country music gave the name one legend in Loretta Lynn, and the movies gave it a valentine in 1987: Loretta Castorini, the widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper of Moonstruck who falls helplessly for her fiancé's younger brother, the role that won Cher an Academy Award and made the name synonymous with late-blooming romance. After decades of quiet, the chart shows Loretta ticking upward again in the 2020s, right on schedule for the vintage revival, an old sweetheart of a name getting a second look.

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How popular is Loretta around the world?

In the United States, 2,197 babies were named Loretta between 2020 and 2025. In Mexico City, there were 16 registrations of Loretta in 2022.

Loretta is on the official records of the United States, Mexico City, England and Wales, Scotland, Canada, Chile, Austria, Argentina, Spain and Brazil.

United States

1 in 9,900

In the United States, 2,197 babies were named Loretta between 2020 and 2025.

peak 1900s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Loretta peaked in the 1900s and the 1950s in nearly equal measure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Mexico City City

1 in 7,300

In Mexico City, there were 16 registrations of Loretta in 2022.

2000peak 2020

share of that year’s registrations in the city

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (2 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

See the full list for Mexico City →

England and Wales

1 in 15,000

In England and Wales, 39 girls named Loretta were born in 2025, the 894th most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 2025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Scotland

1 in 15,000

In Scotland, 3 girls named Loretta were registered in 2024, the 790th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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Canada

1 in 22,000

In Canada, 17 girls named Loretta were born in 2024, ranked 1,399th among girls that year.

1991peak 2021

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Chile

1 in 36,000

In Chile, 5 girls were registered as Loretta in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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Austria

1 in 38,000

In Austria, 2 girls named Loretta were born in 2025, ranked 1,305th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Argentina

1 in 330,000

In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Loretta in 2024.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Spain

1 in 570,000

In Spain, 79 residents are named Loretta, ranked 9,416th among women, with a mean age of 45.2 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Brazil

1 in 1M

At the 2022 census, 155 people in Brazil were named Loretta, ranked 30,402nd, with a median age of 34.
Among people named Loretta living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.

peak 1980s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Ireland

last on record 1991

Loretta is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.

peak 19782025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Montevideo City

last on record 1947

Loretta is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

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New Zealand

last on record 2017

Loretta is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

peak 19362025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

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Poland

last on record 2017

Loretta is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

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South Australia

last on record 2016

Loretta is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.

1944peak 19632017

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.

Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Loretta

Most people given the name Loretta in the United States were born between 1940 and 1979. The Loretta you meet today is most often in her 60s or 70s.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Loretta

Emma Filomena Charlotte Audrey Nora Evelyn

Keep exploring

Names of music legends · Iconic movie character names

The Loretta deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Loretta truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Loretta fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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