How Many People Are Named Loretta?
An estimated 75,682 people in the United States have the first name Loretta. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 65 years old, and Loretta peaked in popularity in 1938 with 3,931 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Loretta 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 Loretta paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Loretta is overwhelmingly female, 502 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 65, Loretta is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1971.
Estimated Living Americans
75,682
About 1 in 4,529 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
65
years old
Peak Year
1938
3,931 births
Total Registered
177,574
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Loretta
Loretta is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 177,574 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Loretta as a male name
Ranked #6,884 in 1981
5 male births in 1981
Peak: 1933 (21 births)
Loretta as a female name
Ranked #677 in 2024
422 female births in 2024
Peak: 1938 (3,913 births)
Loretta: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Loretta span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1930s, when 31,682 babies were registered. Loretta has declined significantly from its peak in the 1930s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Loretta by Decade
How has Loretta 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,036 | 0 | 1,036 | |
| 1890s | 3,382 | 0 | 3,382 | |
| 1900s | 5,151 | 0 | 5,151 | |
| 1910s | 14,607 | 37 | 14,570 | |
| 1920s | 21,133 | 62 | 21,071 | |
| 1930s | 31,682 | 145 | 31,537 | |
| 1940s | 30,203 | 83 | 30,120 | |
| 1950s | 30,474 | 80 | 30,394 | |
| 1960s | 22,150 | 80 | 22,070 | |
| 1970s | 8,650 | 10 | 8,640 | |
| 1980s | 3,284 | 5 | 3,279 | |
| 1990s | 1,380 | 0 | 1,380 | |
| 2000s | 930 | 0 | 930 | |
| 2010s | 1,803 | 0 | 1,803 | |
| 2020s | 1,709 | 0 | 1,709 | |
Loretta by State
Birth registrations for Loretta span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois. The lowest are in Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming. On average, about 3,214 Lorettas were registered per state.
Loretta + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Loretta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Loretta
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
Loretta: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loretta?
We estimate approximately 75,682 people named Loretta 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 4,529 Americans share this first name.
Is Loretta a common name?
Loretta is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 177,574 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Loretta most popular?
Loretta reached peak popularity in 1938, when 3,931 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Loretta is approximately 65 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Loretta a female name?
Loretta is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Loretta Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Loretta Smith, Loretta Johnson, Loretta 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.
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