Larita
Feminine · “pearl”
Larita sits on top of Rita, and Rita is a fragment: the tail of Margarita, cut loose and sent out on its own so long ago that most people have no idea it was ever attached to anything. The saint who carries it is the one Catholics turn to when a situation is beyond hope, which gives a very small name an unusually heavy job.
How old is the name Larita?
Larita first appears in US birth records in 1919 — 106 years ago. The typical Larita alive today was born around 1962, making them about 63 years old. About 1,300 people named Larita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Larita most popular?
Larita peaked in 1957, reaching #1187 nationally. See the whole 1957 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Margarita, the full Spanish and Italian name to Larita
The story of Larita
Rita of Cascia was married against her wishes to a violent man, widowed by a feud, lost both sons, and then spent years being refused entry to a convent because the community would not admit the widow of a murdered man while the vendetta was live. She talked the two families into peace, was admitted, and became the saint invoked in situations everybody else has written off: the patron of impossible causes, of abused wives, of desperate circumstances. It is one of the few patronages assigned on the basis of a life rather than a legend. The other bearer worth knowing arrived by studio decision rather than by sanctity. A young dancer born Margarita Cansino was renamed for the screen with her mother's surname and the tail of her own first name, which is exactly the operation that produced Rita in the first place, several centuries earlier and without a contract.
Meaningscholars disagree
pearl, at two removes
If the base is Rita, the meaning comes down from Margarita and is the old word for a pearl, arriving here through two clippings and a prefix. If instead the name is a Spanish diminutive built on Lara or Clara, the meaning is different again. Nothing in the spelling settles it, and both routes were live in American families at the time. The prefix itself contributes no meaning in either case.
How the name formed
- Margarita, the full Spanish and Italian name
- Rita cut loose as an independent name
- The La- prefix fastened on in American use
- Larita and Lareta in the registers
Related forms: Rita · Rita
Pronouncing Larita
luh-REE-tuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The first is reduced almost to nothing, which is what allows the prefix to sit there without disturbing the rest of the name.
Nicknames for Larita
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
- 1919
- Most girls named
- 195779 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1187reached in 1957
- Change vs 1998
- −28.6%5 in 2015, from 7
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.
Larita in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rita in Spanish — related form
- Rita in Italian — related form
Laritas among us
people named Larita 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
Larita 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 waiting inside it as a short, strong and completely familiar everyday name.
- The rhythm is even and the sound is soft, and nobody will struggle to say it.
- It is genuinely rare while being built entirely out of familiar pieces.
- It will be heard as Lolita or Loretta on a first introduction more often than it is heard correctly.
- There are two possible parent names and no way to choose between them from the spelling.
- The prefix dates the name to a particular stretch of American naming.
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What they receive
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Larita
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Laritas 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 Larita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Larita in 2025?
- Larita is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Larita with classmates?
- Larita will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Larita? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Larita and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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