Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Eta is a form of Etela. Etela comes from English.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1922. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Eta through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 0 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 1922
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 1922. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 182 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Eta’s family of names
In Slovak usage, Eta has a related form in ETELA.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Eta
- Eta TyrmandBelarusian composer (1917-2008)
- Eta Harich-SchneiderGerman pianist and musicologist (1894–1986)
- Eta LinnemannGerman theologian (1926–2009)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Eta, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Erma
“one who is complete; universal”
>99% girls
Alta
“to be elevated”
>99% girls
Eda
Eda is a variant of Edith. One English interpretation is “the spoils of war; one who is joyous; a treasure.”
>99% girls
Elma
“having God's protection”
>99% girls
Zita
“patron of housewives and servants” · “little rose”
>99% girls
Elnora
“shining light”
>99% girls
Elda
“a battlemaiden; a protector”
>99% girls
Elva
“a friend of the elves”
>99% girls