Aretha vs Aretta
American parents have registered 5,656 Arethas since 1880, against 1,142 Arettas. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Aretha Aretta
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 111 years in which either name was published, Aretha for 102 years and Aretta for 9 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.
- 1900–1911 Aretha ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1912–1914 Aretta ahead
- 1919–2023 Aretha ahead, apart from one short spell
9 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Aretha | Aretta | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 5,656 | 1,142 |
| Most in one year | 543 | 33 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 4,300 | 370 |
| Median age today | 56 | 71 |
| Peak year | 1968 | 1923 |
| Best rank | 397th girls | 1,388th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1900 | 1900 |
| Girls / boys | 5,656 / 0 | 1,142 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Arettas alive today are over 71; half the Arethas are over 56. That is 15 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Aretha Mississippi (7.1×), Alabama (4.7×), Georgia (3.7×)
- Aretta West Virginia (86.5×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Aretha and Aretta.