Rita
Meaning and origin
From Italian Rita, later also used as a short form of Marita and Carita. First recorded as a name of Swedes in 1880.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Rita (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Rita has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2016. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 6 |
| 2005 | 4 |
| 2006 | 4 |
| 2007 | 8 |
| 2008 | 7 |
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2010 | 11 |
| 2011 | 6 |
| 2012 | 5 |
| 2013 | 12 |
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2015 | 13 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2022 | 10 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 2,656 |
| 2000 | 2,656 |
| 2001 | 2,680 |
| 2002 | 2,694 |
| 2003 | 2,726 |
| 2004 | 2,735 |
| 2005 | 2,747 |
| 2006 | 2,776 |
| 2007 | 2,797 |
| 2008 | 2,843 |
| 2009 | 2,878 |
| 2010 | 2,900 |
| 2011 | 2,903 |
| 2012 | 2,910 |
| 2013 | 2,928 |
| 2014 | 2,970 |
| 2015 | 2,999 |
| 2016 | 3,053 |
| 2017 | 3,077 |
| 2018 | 3,087 |
| 2019 | 3,101 |
| 2020 | 3,076 |
Rita in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Rita.Hi! My name is Rita.
- Rita bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Rita lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Jag ska fika med Rita i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Rita this afternoon.
- Ritas mamma är lärare.Rita's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ritas mamma is Rita's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Rita
How do you pronounce Rita in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Rita from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Rita mean?
From Italian Rita, later also used as a short form of Marita and Carita. First recorded as a name of Swedes in 1880.
How popular is Rita in Sweden?
10 babies were named Rita in 2022. In 2020, 3,076 people in Sweden had Rita as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2016 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.