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 [ 3 syll. a-ret-ha, ar-e-tha ] The girl name Aretha is pronounced as erIYTHah KEY. Aretha is mainly used in English and it is of Old Greek origin. The name is derived from the Greek Arete, itself from the element 'arete' (excellence, virtue). In Greek mythology, Arethusa was a wood nymph who was pursued by an amorous river god and later transformed into a spring; this form of the name was later revived in various 17th-century English works, such as the Beaumont and Fletcher play Philaster (1608-). The name Aretha has in recent times been popularized by the American singer Aretha Franklin (1942-). The Latinized Arethusa, the English Aretta, the French Arette, the English Arletha, the English Laretha, the English Oretha, and the English Reatha are variant forms of the name. Other forms of Aretha include the English short form Retha and the English spelling variant Areta. Aretha is rare as a baby name for girls. At the modest peak of its usage in 1968, 0.032% of baby girls were named Aretha. Its ranking then was #399. The baby name has since dropped out of favor, and is today of irregular use. Out of all girl names in its group, Aretha was nevertheless the most widely used in 2008. Baby names that sound like Aretha include the English Eartha, the Polish Erta, the English Ertha, the Lithuanian Urte, and the Italian Arietta. A famous person named Aretha is Singer Aretha Franklin, born 25 March 1942, Memphis, Tennessee. KEY: Pronunciation for Aretha: ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
