Rheta vs Rhetta
American parents have registered 1,200 Rhetas since 1880, against 621 Rhettas. But in 2025 it was Rhetta that was commoner, 8 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Rheta Rhetta
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 81 years in which either name was published, Rheta for 51 years and Rhetta for 30 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.
- 1895–1905 Rhetta ahead
- 1907–1939 Rheta ahead
- 1940–1942 Rhetta ahead
- 1943–1958 Rheta ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1961–1963 Rhetta ahead
- 1964–1966 Rheta ahead
- 1969–2025 Rhetta ahead
6 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Rheta | Rhetta | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,200 | 621 |
| Most in one year | 151 | 18 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 8 |
| Estimated living today | 420 | 380 |
| Median age today | 77 | 66 |
| Peak year | 1934 | 1941 |
| Best rank | 526th girls | 1,954th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 10,917th |
| First recorded | 1893 | 1895 |
| Girls / boys | 1,200 / 0 | 621 / 0 |
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.
Which name is older
Half of the Rhetas alive today are over 77; half the Rhettas are over 66. That is 11 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Rheta and Rhetta.