The baby name Rita became a top-100 girl name in the U.S. in the mid-1910s.
Rita remained popular during the 1920s, but usage declined in the 1930s. The name probably would have slipped out of the top 100 if usage hadn’t started increasing again in 1940:
- 1942: 4,706 baby girls named Rita [rank: 55th]
- 1941: 3,879 baby girls named Rita [rank: 63rd]
- 1940: 3,442 baby girls named Rita [rank: 70th]
- 1939: 3,188 baby girls named Rita [rank: 78th]
- 1938: 3,357 baby girls named Rita [rank: 74th]
Here’s a visual:
What revived expectant parents’ interest in the baby name Rita around 1940?
My guess is glamorous film star Rita Hayworth.
Hayworth, whose birth name was Margarita Carmen Cansino, was born into a family of dancers (the “Dancing Cansinos”) and performed professionally as a child.
She began acting in films in the mid-1930s, and found fame upon the success of Only Angels Have Wings (1939) — the first movie in which she played a prominent role (“as an unfaithful wife who tries to seduce Cary Grant”).
She went on to portray femmes fatale in melodramas like The Lady in Question (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), and The Strawberry Blonde (1941), and she exhibited her dancing skills in musicals like You’ll Never Get Rich (1941), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), and Cover Girl (1944).
In August of 1941 — four months before the attack on Pearl Harbor — Life magazine published a photo of Hayworth wearing a “black-and-white nightgown,” kneeling “on her own bed in her own home.” That photo went on to become one of the most popular pin-up images of World War II.
How do you feel about the name Rita? Would you use it as-is, or do you prefer it as a nickname for Margarita?
P.S. The name Rita reached its highest-ever ranking (42nd) in 1930, no doubt thanks to the musical comedy Rio Rita (1929), which starred actress Bebe Daniels.
Sources:
- Rita Hayworth – Wikipedia
- Rita Hayworth – Britannica
- Cosgrove, Ben. “Rita Hayworth: Hollywood Legend, Pinup Icon.” Life.com 1 Oct. 2014.
- “Rita Hayworth rises from bit parts into a triple-threat song & dance star.” Life 11 Aug. 1941: 33.
- Rio Rita (1929 film) – Wikipedia
- SSA
Images: Screenshot of Only Angels Have Wings; clipping from Life magazine (11 Aug. 1941)
Rita was my grandmother’s name (b.1929) and is my aunt’s name (b.1951). I love it. I think it’s ready for a comeback.
Rita Hayworth looks so much like Mischa Barton in that second photo.
I love it as well, actually. It would be great to see it come back. (Given that it was still seeing pretty strong usage as recently as the 1960s, though, we’ll probably have to wait few more decades for that to happen.)
Rita is one name that I like both on its own and as a short form.