Loretta

What Loretta means

Diminutive of Laura, meaning “laurel tree”

diminutive of Laura || From Late Latin saint's name Laura, from the feminine form of laurus (“laurel tree”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Loretta” (revision 87446501) and “Laura” (revision 94541079), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Loretta?

US: Rising: up from #1154 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #2195 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1938, when 3,913 girls got the name (#62 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,314 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 6,494 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WI (2.02 per 1,000 girls), ND (1.85 per 1,000 girls), SD (1.64 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Loretta is #606 in the US and #894 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Loretta were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Lauretta11 US
• Laretta6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Loretta

Girls

• Florence#391“flowering, flourishing”^*
• Rosemary#251“dew of the sea”^*
• Maxine#496Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,106 in 2015, #496 in 2025
• Sylvia#300“forest”^*
• Regina#395“queen”^*
• Rosalia#608Same root as Rosalie, meaning “rose”^*

For a brother

• Leon#138“lion”^*
• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025
• Lionel#659“lion”^*
• Felix#175“happy, lucky”^*
• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*
• August#81“month of August”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Loretta’s. Rank is US 2025.