Anita

“Variant of Anna — Grace; favor” — Hebrew via Latin origin

Girl's name · #1342 in the US (2025) · Heirloom

Anita reached its best rank, #77, in 1963 and ranked #1342 in 2025. About 215,000 girls have carried it since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Around the world: about 1 in 2,100 girls in Poland (2025) · about 1 in 3,900 girls in Canada (2024) · about 1 in 4,200 girls in Switzerland (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 11 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Anitas

Anita Ekberg — Swedish actress (1931–2015)
Anita Desai — Indian novelist, University professor (born 1937)
Anita Włodarczyk — Polish hammer thrower
Anita Brookner — English novelist and art historian (1928–2016)
Anita Borg — American computer scientist (1949-2003)

In stories & tradition

Anita Diminuta — comics character
Anita Blake — Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter
Anita Dendermonde — Goede tijden, slechte tijden

What Anitas become

Among 2,069 notable people named Anita:

Entertainers appear 1.54× more often than among typical names — e.g. Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress (1931–2015).

Similar names: Annika · Janice · Annette · Rita · Deborah · Juanita

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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