rita ... ?

[grampus]

haven't seen a post about rita as stand-alone name - ie not as nn for margaret/margarita - what does the mn jury reckon?? it has been a surprise latecomer to our shortlist. thanks!
(ps have name-changed so can show this to DH without revealing my real name...)

ooh no.

Bit dated to me.

sounds a bit cheap/tarty but that is just my HO.

I know a really lovely lady named Rita. She is neither cheap nor tarty
She is over 50 though
Overall tis a good name I think and these days would certainly be unusual.

I like it, maybe that's because it was my grandmother's name, but yeah I think it's kind of punchy and cute. No more dated that something like Albert or Alfred or Frederick and kin for boys...I think it would really suit a little girl toddling around and also a grown-up

It's a bit Janet.

There is a saint called Rita. Holy water and all that.

punchy and cute is exactly what we were hoping to hear ... have to take cheap, old and janet (!) on the chin

It's sweet, but not too sweet.

Horrid.

So sweet I know one who is a Margarita- even nicer

sue and bob too....

I love rita - it is somewhere on our list (although not top!)

Oh no I don't like it at all, sorry. I went to school with a 'dreadfully brash' Rita, who has coloured my perceptions of the name. And Julie Walters as 'Educating Rita' doesn't exactly suggest elegance and sophistication. Those two are the only two Ritas I can think of.

Sorry but I had to laugh at 'a bit Janet' which implies so much in so few words.

Love it. Makes me think of glamourous '40s hairstyles, sassy, happy birds.

Lovely Rita, meter maid..

Though in fact I know an Anglo-Asian Rita who is anything but. Is there a similar Asian name?

apparently it means brave/strong in hindi as well which I thought was quite cool

If it helps, the character that Julie Walters plays in Educating Rita was actually a Susan, she adopts the name Rita as it was the name of her favourite author.
I'm still liking it..!

I know a Rita (stand alone) who is 14 months. I wasn't sure at first but actually love it now. Unusual but cool for me.

Like it a lot. I think it's quite 40s ish. Rita Heyworth comes to mind, so thinking quite glamorous, as well as spunky.

It's a bit dinner-lady... but in a nice way. I like it, though it may seem odd on a baby at first.

It is lovely. Margarita is Spanish for daisy and sounds very pretty.

I know Rita has old fashioned connotations but I think it sounds so nice.

I also know an anglo-Indian Rita who is in her early 30s and is very nice, extremely intelligent and quite good-looking to boot! So to me, Rita has nice connotations. I thought it was relatively popular with Asian families? Interesting to hear it has a meaning in Hindi that would make it so.

Please dont call your child rita! I was saved by my nana(who is a rita) from the same fate for which i'm eternally grateful!