| Anita | Linda | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | grace, favour | Pretty |
| Origin | spanish | spanish |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | uh-NEE-tuh | LIN-duh |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1957 (5,811) | 1947 (99,692) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Anita | Linda |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 929 | 1,956 |
| 2010s | 1,695 | 4,386 |
| 2000s | 2,471 | 7,220 |
| 1990s | 4,571 | 12,815 |
| 1980s | 8,594 | 22,819 |
| 1970s | 18,834 | 45,900 |
| 1960s | 44,416 | 225,454 |
| 1950s | 47,588 | 564,364 |
| 1940s | 32,531 | 531,660 |
| 1930s | 22,224 | 29,358 |
| 1920s | 18,052 | 4,455 |
| 1910s | 9,555 | 2,395 |
| 1900s | 2,149 | 996 |
| 1890s | 1,191 | 872 |
| 1880s | 365 | 493 |
A Spanish and Portuguese diminutive of Ana, ultimately from Hebrew 'Channah' (Hannah) meaning grace or favour.
In Spanish and Portuguese linda means 'pretty, beautiful' (from Latin/Romance). NOTE: the name also has an independent Germanic source, the element lind 'soft, tender' (as in names like Rosalind); so 'pretty' is the Romance reading, 'soft/tender' the Germanic one.
Anita and Linda are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Anita means grace, favour (spanish origin), while Linda means Pretty (spanish origin).
In US records, Anita first appears in 0 and Linda in 0, so Anita has the longer recorded history.