Alita
A feminine name meaning "winged one" or "winged victor", of Spanish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 2,089 living Americans carry the first name Alita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alita today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alita births was 2020 (181 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alita. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Alita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 164,076 Americans
Peak year
2020
181 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,093
Tracked since 1914
Census
Alita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,802 people with the first name Alita, which placed it at #8,121 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,121
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,802 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alita is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Hispanic (15.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alita described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.9% · 809
- Black or African American20.3% · 365
- Hispanic or Latino15.3% · 276
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.0% · 216
- Two or more races6.2% · 111
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 25
Popularity
Alita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alita from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 608 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alita by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Alita, while South Carolina, Oklahoma, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alita
The name Alita is believed to have originated from the Spanish language, derived from the name Alicia, which itself is a variant of the French name Alice. Alice, in turn, is derived from the Old German name Adalheidis, which means "noble" or "nobility."
Alita is thought to have first emerged as a diminutive form of Alicia in Spanish-speaking regions during the Middle Ages. The name's popularity likely grew as a result of its association with nobility and its pleasing sound.
In terms of historical references, the name Alita does not appear to have any direct mentions in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, its roots in the Old German name Adalheidis can be traced back to the 8th century.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Alita can be found in the 16th century, with the birth of Alita de Borgia, a Spanish noblewoman and daughter of the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, in 1495. Alita de Borgia was known for her beauty and intelligence, and her name likely contributed to its growing popularity among the Spanish aristocracy.
Other notable historical figures named Alita include:
1. Alita Rodríguez (1923-2010), a Mexican actress and dancer who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career.
2. Alita Bobadilla (1919-2009), a Chilean painter and sculptor known for her vibrant and colorful works that celebrated indigenous cultures.
3. Alita Delmont (1867-1952), a French feminist and activist who fought for women's suffrage and equal rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
4. Alita Almódovar (1892-1978), a Spanish writer and poet whose works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
5. Alita Montserrat (1910-1995), a Catalan singer and actress who gained popularity in the early 20th century for her performances in operettas and musicals.
While the name Alita may not have a long and storied history, its roots in Old German nobility and its pleasant sound have contributed to its enduring appeal throughout the centuries, particularly in Spanish-speaking regions.
People
Alita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alita as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,089 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alita going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 164,076 US residents.
Is Alita a common name?
We classify Alita as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alita most popular?
The single biggest year for Alita was 2020, when 181 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alita is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,802 people with the name Alita, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,121 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alita in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alita appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,797 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alita is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Hispanic (15.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (809 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alita in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alita in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alita can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Alita?
Find out how many Americans are named Alita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.