How Many People Are Named Aretha?
An estimated 3,978 people in the United States have the first name Aretha. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 56 years old, and Aretha peaked in popularity in 1968 with 543 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Aretha as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Aretha paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
3,978
About 1 in 86,162 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
56
years old
Peak Year
1968
543 births
Total Registered
5,656
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Aretha
Aretha is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 5,656 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Aretha as a female name
Ranked #13,616 in 2023
6 female births in 2023
Peak: 1968 (543 births)
Aretha: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Aretha span from the 1900s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 2,008 babies were registered. Aretha has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Aretha by Decade
How has Aretha tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Aretha by State
Birth registrations for Aretha span all 28 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi. The lowest are in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Delaware. On average, about 113 Arethas were registered per state.
Aretha + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Aretha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Aretha
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
Aretha: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aretha?
We estimate approximately 3,978 people named Aretha are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 86,162 Americans share this first name.
Is Aretha a common name?
Aretha is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 5,656 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Aretha most popular?
Aretha reached peak popularity in 1968, when 543 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Aretha is approximately 56 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Aretha a female name?
Aretha is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Aretha Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Aretha Smith, Aretha Johnson, Aretha Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me