Rita History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

Early Origins of the Rita family

The surname Rita was first found in Rome (Italian: Roma), the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Little can be said in the space available which would do justice to the history of this beautiful city. From 1000 B.C., its history is a book of life itself. The buildings, culture, arts, cathedrals, churches, museums galleries hold untold treasures unequalled anywhere else in the world. In those ancient times only persons of rank, the podesta, clergy, city officials, army officers, artists, landowners were entered into the records. To be recorded at this time, at the beginning of recorded history, was of itself a great distinction and indicative of noble ancestry.

Early History of the Rita family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rita research. Another 84 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1808 is included under the topic Early Rita History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rita Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Rita, Ritay, Ritta, Rheda and others.

Early Notables of the Rita family

Prominent among members of the family was

the Rita family of Rome

Rita Ranking

In the United States, the name Rita is the 16,027^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Rita migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Rita Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Delfino Rita, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1860 2
Frederick Hy Rita, who settled in New York in 1861

Contemporary Notables of the name Rita (post 1700) +

Lawrence Di Rita, American Naval Officer, US department of Defense official from 2002
Maria Rita Tuccio, Producer
Rita Moreno (b. 1931), award-winning Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Rita O'Hare (1943-2023), née McCulloch, Irish politician in the General Secretary of Sinn Féin, and from 1998 to 2023 the party's representative to the United States
Rita Gardner (1934-2022), née Schier, an American actress and singer, best known for P.S. I Love You (2007), Law & Order (1990) and Shiva Baby (2020)
Rita Letendre OC OQ OOnt (1928-2021), Canadian painter, muralist, and printmaker associated with Les Automatistes and the Plasticiens
Rita MacNeil CM, ONS (1944-2013), Canadian folk singer from Big Pond, Cape Breton Island; she released 24 albums, won three Juno Awards, a SOCAN National Achievement Award, four CCMA awards, eleven ECMA awards and was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2021)
Miss Rita Pauncefort (1890-1970), née Sauer, Australian comedienne who with her partner, Miss Dorothy "Dilly" Foster were known as "Ada and Elsie"; they were featured on "Calling the Stars" with ABC and in July 1945 were banned like other well-known comedians at that time
Rita Deloris White Walters (1930-2020), American politician who served on the Board of Library Commissioners for the Los Angeles Public Library
Ms. Rita Anne Sheehan B.E.M., British Manager for Community Centre Playgroup, at Manorfield Church of England School in Leicestershire, was appointed Medallist of the British Empire Medal 29th December 2018 for services to Children and to the community in Leicestershire 3

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists