Charita
Feminine · “love”
Charita takes an English virtue name and gives it a Spanish-looking ending, and the virtue has narrowed considerably since it became a name. Charity meant love in the general sense when English translators chose the word, and it has since contracted to mean almsgiving, which is a much smaller thing and not what the name was given for.
How old is the name Charita?
Charita first appears in US birth records in 1941 — 84 years ago. The typical Charita alive today was born around 1977, making them about 48 years old. About 1,300 people named Charita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Charita most popular?
Charita peaked in 1983, reaching #1689 nationally. See the whole 1983 chart.
Where it comes from
From A Latin noun chosen to translate a Greek word for love to Charita
The story of Charita
Watch the word contract. Latin translators picked a noun meaning dearness or high regard to render the Greek term for the highest kind of love, and English took the Latin word rather than translating it, so that early English Bibles have charity where later ones have love. Over the following centuries the English word narrowed: first to benevolence, then to the giving of alms, then to the organizations that do the giving. By the twentieth century a translator using it would have been misleading, and modern versions all say love instead. The name was given while the older sense was still available and now carries the newer one, which is a considerable change in what it says about a child.
Meaning
love
The English word comes through French from a Latin noun meaning love or high regard, which was itself chosen to translate a Greek word about unconditional love. The reading is settled and the narrowing is later. The ending here is Spanish or Italian in shape and contributes affection rather than sense; there is no Spanish name behind the combination.
How the name formed
- A Latin noun chosen to translate a Greek word for love
- Charity in English Bibles and as a Puritan virtue name
- The English word narrowing to almsgiving
- Charita, with a Spanish-looking ending added
Related forms: Caridad · Carita
Pronouncing Charita
chuh-REE-tuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The ch is the English one rather than the Spanish k sound, which is what distinguishes this name from the Italian and Spanish forms of the same virtue.
Nicknames for Charita
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
- 1941
- Most girls named
- 198165 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1689reached in 1983
- Change vs 1999
- −16.7%5 in 2009, 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.
Charita in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caridad in Spanish — related form
- Carita in Italian — related form
Charitas among us
people named Charita 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
Charita 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
- Rita is available inside it as a complete and portable short form.
- The rhythm is even and the name is easy to say on a first attempt.
- The meaning is genuinely good once the older sense is explained.
- The modern sense of the word is narrower and less flattering than the original.
- It will be heard as Clarita, Rita or Carita by people not listening closely.
- It is firmly of the middle of the twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Charita
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Charitas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Charita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Charita in 2025?
- Charita is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Charita with classmates?
- Charita will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Charita? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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