Leta
Feminine · “glad”
Leta is the Latin for gladness cut short — laeta, the feminine of the adjective behind Letitia — and it is also the back of a dozen longer names.
How old is the name Leta?
Leta was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Leta alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 4,400 people named Leta are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leta most popular?
Leta peaked in 1890, reaching #317 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 9,140 places below that high. See the whole 1890 chart.
Where it comes from
From laeta to Leta
The story of Leta
The laetus family gave Letitia and Lettice to medieval English, and the clipped Leta appears independently in nineteenth-century records. American families used it alongside Etta, Reta and Neta — all short, all vowel-ended, all registered outright — and Leta peaked around 1918.
Meaningscholars disagree
glad, joyful
The clearest route is the Latin laeta, 'glad' or 'joyful', the feminine of laetus and the root of Letitia. Leta is also a clipping of Violeta, Nicoleta and Carleta, which would make the meaning depend on the parent. The Greek Leto, mother of Apollo, is a separate name of unrecovered origin.
How the name formed
- laeta
- Letitia
- Leta
Related forms: Leta · Letitia · Letizia
Pronouncing Leta
LEE-tuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some bearers say LET-uh with a short first vowel.
Nicknames for Leta
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1918233 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #317reached in 1890
- Change vs 2022
- +25.0%10 in 2025, from 8
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.
Leta in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leta in Spanish — same name
- Letitia in English — related form
- Letizia in Italian — related form
Letas among us
people named Leta are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Leta
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Leta
- #9457
- Leta on the 2025 chart
- #943
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Leta went to 10 girls in 2025, but Letta is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 17, which makes it the 943rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 8,514 places above the chart.
- Leta10
- Letta7
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 160,727 for Leta itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Leta sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Leta beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leta in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The gladness meaning is transparent and attractive.
- Letitia is available as a full formal version with real history.
- Four letters, two syllables, and never misheard.
- The first vowel splits between two readings.
- The parent name is not certain for every bearer.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Leta
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Letas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,400 people named Leta are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Leta?
- Leta is the most-used spelling in US records — 10 of the 17 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Letta.
- How popular is the name Leta in 2025?
- Leta ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leta?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Leta — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leta with classmates?
- Leta will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leta
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Lania#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leta? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leta and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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