Leta vs Letha
American parents have registered 19,162 Lethas since 1880, against 11,944 Letas. But in 2025 it was Leta that was commoner, 10 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Leta Letha
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Letha for 105 years and Leta for 41 years. The lead changed hands 15 times.
- 1880–1948 Letha ahead
- 1951–1954 Leta ahead
- 1955–1988 Letha ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1989–2025 Leta ahead, apart from 3 short spells
7 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Leta | Letha | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 11,944 | 19,162 |
| Most in one year | 233 | 473 |
| Babies in 2025 | 10 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 4,200 | 5,500 |
| Median age today | 68 | 67 |
| Peak year | 1918 | 1918 |
| Best rank | 435th girls | 293rd girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 9,457th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 11,944 / 0 | 19,137 / 25 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Where each one is strongest
- Leta Oklahoma (8.9×), Missouri (5.2×), Kansas (4.5×)
- Letha Oklahoma (5.6×), Arkansas (4.8×), Mississippi (3.7×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Leta and Letha.