Loretta

Where Loretta comes from

The dictionaries list Loretta as a given name — a female given name from Latin, variant of Lauretta, Italian diminutive of Laura; or a form of Loreto — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Latin
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #240 among girls — 41 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1913
    Loretta Young born
    American actress
  3. 1932
    Loretta Lynn born
    American country singer
  4. 1938
    Peak, #62
    3,913 babies named Loretta — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1965
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #185.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin, variant of Lauretta, Italian diminutive of Laura; or a form of Loreto.
Namesakes
  • Loretta Young · American actress, 1913–2000
  • Loretta Lynn · American country singer, 1932–2022
  • Loretta Swit · American actress, 1937–2025
  • Loretta Lynch · American attorney, born 1959
  • Loretta Devine · American actress, born 1949

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.