Aretha

Aretha: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “virtue; excellence”
Origin: Greek
Say it: uh-REE-thuh · 3 syllables
Used for: Girls

From Greek arete, meaning 'virtue' or 'excellence'. The name is best known from singer Aretha Franklin.

Greek names English names American names Classic names

How popular is Aretha?

20240 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Aretha in 20240

Peak year1968

Total US babies since 18805,656

Aretha was not given to enough US babies in 2024 to appear in the records.

Names like Aretha

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Rethauncertain · Unknown
Sophiawisdom · Greek
Sofiawisdom · Greek
Chloeyoung green shoot · Greek
Zoelife · Greek
Penelopeweaver; duck · Greek
Elenabright, shining light · Greek
Genesisorigin; creation; birth · Greek

Aretha questions

What does the name Aretha mean?

Aretha means "virtue; excellence". It comes from Greek. From Greek arete, meaning 'virtue' or 'excellence'. The name is best known from singer Aretha Franklin.

Is Aretha a boy or girl name?

Aretha is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Aretha?

Aretha was given to fewer than 5 babies of either sex in 2024; its peak year was 1968.

How do you pronounce Aretha?

Aretha is usually pronounced uh-REE-thuh.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.