Loreta
Feminine · “Of Loreto”
Because of a story about a house that flew, the woman this name honors is the official patron of aviators. That is the sort of thing that happens when a medieval legend meets a twentieth-century pope who needs a saint for a new profession, and it is not a joke: the designation is formal and dated.
How old is the name Loreta?
Loreta first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Loreta alive today was born around 1934, making them about 91 years old. About 500 people named Loreta are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Loreta most popular?
Loreta peaked in 1916, reaching #1189 nationally. See the whole 1916 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Loreto to Loreta
The story of Loreta
The shrine also produced a piece of text that has been recited unchanged for five centuries. The Litany of Loreto is a list of titles for the Virgin, each answered by the same short response, said or sung in a fixed order; it was in use by the sixteenth century, was formally approved by Rome, and has had titles added to it by successive popes without any being removed, so that the sequence records five hundred years of accumulated devotion in the order it was accumulated. Latin, Italian and English versions are all in use, the melody is one of the most sung pieces of music in the Catholic world, and almost nobody outside it has heard of it.
Meaning
Of Loreto
The name is a place in the Italian Marches and then a title of the Virgin attached to the shrine there. It describes a devotion rather than a person, in the same way that Fatima and Lourdes do, and it means nothing about a child. The single t in this spelling is a simplification of the usual double.
How the name formed
- Loreto
- Loretta
- Loreta
Related forms: Loreto · Loreto · Loreta
Pronouncing Loreta
luh-RET-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The single t leaves the vowel before it slightly more open than the doubled one would, but in practice American speakers say the two spellings identically.
Nicknames for Loreta
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 191636 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1189reached in 1916
- Change vs 2008
- 0.0%5 in 2021, from 5
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.
Loreta in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Loreto in Italian — related form
- Loreto in Spanish — related form
- Loreta in Lithuanian — same name
Loretas among us
people named Loreta 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
Loreta 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
- Three short forms in three registers, all of which stand alone as names.
- It is current in Lithuania and Italy as well as the United States.
- The devotion behind it is specific and documented rather than vague.
- Loretta is far commoner in America and the second t will be added by strangers.
- It is strongly dated to the early twentieth century in American records.
- The name honors a place and a legend, so there is no meaning to give about the child.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Loreta
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Loretas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Loreta are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Loreta in 2025?
- Loreta is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Loreta with classmates?
- Loreta 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 Loreta? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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