Rheba vs Rhetta
American parents have registered 1,207 Rhebas since 1880, against 621 Rhettas. But in 2025 it was Rhetta that was commoner, 8 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Rheba Rhetta
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 84 years in which either name was published, Rheba for 51 years and Rhetta for 33 years. The lead changed hands 10 times.
Side by side
| Rheba | Rhetta | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,207 | 621 |
| Most in one year | 52 | 18 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 8 |
| Estimated living today | 300 | 380 |
| Median age today | 78 | 66 |
| Peak year | 1924 | 1941 |
| Best rank | 1,086th girls | 1,954th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 10,917th |
| First recorded | 1901 | 1895 |
| Girls / boys | 1,207 / 0 | 621 / 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 Rhebas alive today are over 78; half the Rhettas are over 66. 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: Rheba and Rhetta.