Anita
Around 46,000 Polish women carry it, but it's fading fast: only 57 baby girls got it last year. It grew out of Ana, a form of Anna, and carries the old sense of grace and favor.
Anita Pronunciation
Anita is pronounced ah-NYEE-tah (/aˈɲita/).
What Anita means
Where Anita comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Anita grew out of Ana, itself a form of Anna, and behind all three stands the Hebrew Hannah, meaning grace and favor. Spanish and Portuguese speakers used Anita as an affectionate short form of Ana, and from there it spread into Polish and English among other languages as a name people gave on its own. So the meaning most often attached to Anita, grace and favor, comes down through that older root rather than from anything added later.
In Poland the name found real bearers. Anita Włodarczyk, the hammer thrower, won three Olympic gold medals and broke the world record more than once, and her name now shows up on stadium boards and in match reports. On a school register you might find one Anita seated near the Annas and Hannas, close cousins by origin.
Short. Clear. Easy to spell. The Polish gloss keeps to the source: łaska, wdzięk, grace and favor.
How many people are named Anita
1 in 490 women in Poland is named Anita. 45,962 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #201 among female names.
Anita's popularity over time
57 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #333 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #201 name among living women, even as it slips to #333 among newborns.
Where Anita is most popular
Anita is most popular in Lesser Poland, 80% above the national average (115 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Podlaskie (+30%) and Lower Silesian (+18%). It is least common in Świętokrzyskie and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 42% and 35% below average respectively.
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Lesser Poland115 girls born+80%
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Podlaskie24 girls born+30%
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Lower Silesian52 girls born+18%
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Lubusz16 girls born+15%
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Subcarpathian36 girls born+6%
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Lublin30 girls born+4%
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Pomeranian43 girls born+4%
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Warmian-Masurian19 girls born−6%
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Masovian87 girls born−13%
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Opole11 girls born−15%
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Silesian53 girls born−17%
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Łódź29 girls born−19%
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Greater Poland47 girls born−22%
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West Pomeranian17 girls born−28%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian20 girls born−35%
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Świętokrzyskie9 girls born−42%
Anita as a middle name
Anita is a first name for 45,962 women in Poland and a middle name for another 12,390, a 79/21 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 102nd, between Gertruda (12,475) and Mieczysława (12,221).
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100
12,516Sandra
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101
12,475Gertruda
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10212,390Anita
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103
12,221Mieczysława
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104
11,468Wioleta
When Anita celebrates name day
Anita appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 17 August.