Oretta
A feminine name possibly derived from the French word "or", meaning "gold".
Name Census estimates that about 48 living Americans carry the first name Oretta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Oretta today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oretta births was 1915 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oretta. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Oretta is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Orettas were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Oretta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
48
~ 1 in 7,140,715 Americans
Peak year
1915
10 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1960 SSA rank
#6,194
Tracked since 1909
Census
Oretta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 146 people with the first name Oretta, which placed it at #46,062 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
#46,062
National first-name rank
People counted
146
146 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oretta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oretta is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Black (43.2%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Oretta 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 Oretta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.3% · 72
- Black or African American43.2% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 3
- Two or more races1.4% · 2
Popularity
Oretta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oretta from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 62 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oretta 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 Oretta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oretta
The given name Oretta has its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "orare," which means "to pray" or "to plead." The name likely emerged during the early Christian era, when Latin was the predominant language of the Roman Empire and the Western Christian church.
Oretta can be considered a feminine form of the masculine name Oretus, which itself is a variant of the more common Latin name Oratus. The name was particularly prevalent in regions with strong Roman and Early Christian influences, such as Italy, France, and parts of the Iberian Peninsula.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Oretta can be found in the 6th-century hagiography of Saint Oretta, a Christian martyr from the city of Thessalonica (present-day Thessaloniki, Greece). According to the account, Oretta was a young woman who refused to renounce her Christian faith and was subsequently tortured and executed during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian.
In the 12th century, Oretta di Torino (1120-1193) was a prominent Italian noblewoman and philanthropist from the city of Turin. She is remembered for her charitable works and for establishing a hospital and a convent in her hometown.
Another notable figure bearing the name Oretta was Oretta Provenzali (1493-1575), an Italian painter and miniaturist from the city of Siena. She was renowned for her intricate and highly detailed works, which often depicted religious themes and scenes from the Bible.
During the Renaissance period, Oretta Guglielmi (1548-1628) was an Italian poet and writer from the city of Bologna. She was celebrated for her poetic works, which often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
In more recent history, Oretta Fiume (1915-1959) was an Italian actress and singer who gained popularity during the early years of Italian cinema. She appeared in numerous films and stage productions throughout her career and was known for her versatility and captivating performances.
People
Oretta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oretta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Oretta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oretta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 48 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oretta 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 7,140,715 US residents.
Is Oretta a common name?
We classify Oretta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oretta most popular?
The single biggest year for Oretta was 1915, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oretta is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oretta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 146 people with the name Oretta, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,062 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 Oretta 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 Oretta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oretta appears almost entirely female. Of the 144 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Oretta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oretta is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Black (43.2%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Oretta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oretta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.3% (72 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 Oretta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oretta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oretta 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 Oretta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oretta 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 Oretta 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 Oretta?
Want to know how many people share the name Oretta? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.