Neta vs Netta
American parents have registered 3,226 Netas since 1880, against 1,116 Nettas. But in 2025 it was Netta that was commoner, 9 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Neta Netta
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 133 years in which either name was published, Neta for 102 years and Netta for 31 years. The lead changed hands 20 times.
- 1880–1883 Netta ahead
- 1887–1973 Neta ahead
- 1986–1996 Netta ahead
- 1997–2011 Neta ahead, apart from one short spell
- 2012–2021 Netta ahead
15 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Neta | Netta | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 3,226 | 1,116 |
| Most in one year | 82 | 23 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 9 |
| Estimated living today | 1,000 | 470 |
| Median age today | 73 | 61 |
| Peak year | 1920 | 1922 |
| Best rank | 797th girls | 1,785th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 10,107th |
| First recorded | 1881 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 3,226 / 0 | 1,116 / 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 Netas alive today are over 73; half the Nettas are over 61. That is 12 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Neta and Netta.