Anitra
Feminine
Anitra was invented by Ibsen. She is the Bedouin chief's daughter in Peer Gynt, written in eighteen sixty-seven, and the name appears nowhere before that play — so every Anitra in the world descends from a Norwegian playwright needing something that sounded desert-ish to a Scandinavian audience.
How old is the name Anitra?
Anitra first appears in US birth records in 1923 — 102 years ago. The typical Anitra alive today was born around 1976, making them about 49 years old. About 4,100 people named Anitra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anitra most popular?
Anitra peaked in 1976, reaching #355 nationally. See the whole 1976 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Anitra
Grieg wrote incidental music for the play, and Anitra's Dance became one of the most-played orchestral pieces of the nineteenth century — a light, sly little thing in triple time. That is almost certainly how the name traveled: not by anyone reading Ibsen, but by a tune in every concert program and eventually on every gramophone. The name reaches American records in the twentieth century with no Norwegian connection attached, which is what happens when a name arrives by music rather than by migration.
Meaningnot established
Not established
There is no meaning to find. Ibsen made the name up, and he was not building it from Arabic — the play's North African scenes are deliberately theatrical rather than researched, and the name is an invention that sounds foreign to a European ear. Attempts to trace it to Sanskrit or Arabic roots are working backwards from the sound. The honest answer is that it means nothing and never did.
Pronouncing Anitra
uh-NEE-truh
uh-NEE-truh, three syllables, stress in the middle. Some say uh-NIT-ruh with a short middle vowel, and both are heard in American use. Norwegian says it closer to ah-NEE-trah, with the first vowel fuller.
Nicknames for Anitra
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1923
- Most girls named
- 1976596 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #355reached in 1976
- Change vs 2011
- 0.0%6 in 2013, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Anitras among us
people named Anitra are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Anitra sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The origin is documented to a single play and a single year, which almost no name can claim.
- Nita and Ani are both usable short forms and both are standing names.
- It is genuinely rare, so a child carrying it will not share it.
- The middle vowel is read two ways and the spelling does not decide.
- The character in the play is a fairly unflattering piece of nineteenth-century exoticism, which is worth reading before quoting.
- It will be misheard as Anita, which is a different and much commoner name.
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What they receive
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Anitra
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Anitras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,100 people named Anitra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anitra in 2025?
- Anitra is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Anitra with classmates?
- Anitra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anitra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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