Rita (given name)

Rita is a common female first name, often a name in its own right, but mostly a shortened version of Margarita. The following are notable people with the name Rita.

In media and entertainment

In film, television and theater

• Rita Hayworth (1918–1987), American actress
• Rita Moreno (b. 1931), Puerto Rican-born American actress
• Rita Rudner (b. 1956), American comedian and writer
• Rita Simons (b. 1977), English actress and singer
• Rita Tushingham (b. 1942), English actress
• Rita Wilson (b. 1956), American actress and producer

In journalism and literature

• Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944), American writer and activist
• Rita Cosby (b. 1964), American journalist
• Rita Deverell (b. 1945), Canadian journalist
• Rita Dove (b. 1952), American poet
• Rita Clay Estrada (b. 1941), romance novelist

In music

• Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984), stage name of Rita Thyagarajan, an Indian playback singer
• Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962), stage name of Rita Yahan-Farouz Kleinstein, Persian-born Israeli singer and actress
• Rita (Japanese singer), Japanese voice actress, singer, and lyricist
• Rita Abatzi (1914–1969), Greek singer
• Rita Coolidge (b. 1945), American singer
• Rita Gorr (b. 1926), Belgian operatic mezzo-soprano
• Rita Guerra (b. 1967), Portuguese singer
• Rita Hosking (b. 1969), American singer-songwriter
• Rita Hunter (1933-2001), British operatic dramatic soprano
• Rita Kassabian, Armenian composer
• Rita Lee (b. 1947), Brazilian musician
• Rita MacNeil (b. 1944), Canadian country and folk singer
• Rita Marley (b. 1946), Jamaican singer and widow of Bob Marley
• Rita Ora (b. 1990), British singer-songwriter
• Rita Pavone (b. 1945), Italian singer
• Rita Reys (b. 1924), Dutch jazz singer
• Rita Sakellariou (1934–1999), Greek singer
• Rita Simons (b. 1977), English actress and singer
• Rita Steblin (b. 1951), Canadian musicologist
• Rita Streich (1920–1987), operatic soprano

In visual arts

• Rita Angus (1908–1970), New Zealand painter
• Rita Donagh (b. 1939), British artist

Fictional characters

• Rita (Cypher), in the film Cypher
• Rita, in the franchise Jungledyret Hugo
• Rita Mordio, in Tales of Vesperia
• Rita Bennett, in the TV series Dexter
• Rita Repulsa, a villain in the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
• Rita Skeeter, in the Harry Potter franchise
• Rita Stapleton, in the TV series The Guiding Light
• Rita Sullivan, in the TV series Coronation Street
• Rita or Susan White, in Educating Rita
• Rita, a Saluki dog in Disney film Oliver & Company
• Rita, a female cat in the show Animaniacs
• MOK, a dictatorial teacher based on the real teacher with the same name (see above), portrayed extensively in a highly successful student play from Hong Kong

In government and politics

• Rita of Armenia (1278–1333), Empress of Byzantium
• Rita Barberá (b. 1948), Spanish politician and mayor of Valencia
• Rita Fan (b. 1945), Hong Kong politician
• Rita Johnston (b. 1935), Canadian politician
• Rita Lau (b. 1953), retired Hong Kong senior government official
• Rita Potts Parks (born 1962), American politician
• Rita Süssmuth (b. 1937), German politician
• Rita Verdonk (b. 1955), Dutch politician

In sport

• Rita Crockett (b. 1957), American volleyball player
• Rita Drávucz (b. 1980), Hungarian water polo player
• Rita Jeptoo (born 1981), Kenyan marathon runner
• Rita Tamašauskaitė (b. 1941), Lithuanian rower
• Adam Rita (born 1947), Canadian Football League executive and former coach
• Jani Rita (born 1981), Finnish ice hockey player

In other fields

• Rita of Cascia (1381–1457), Italian Augustinian saint
• Rita Atria (1974–1992), Italian anti-Mafia witness
• Rita R. Colwell (b. 1934), environmental microbiologist
• Rita Jenrette (b. 1949), former wife of disgraced U.S. Representative John Jenrette, posed for Playboy magazine
• Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909–2012), Italian-American neurologist
• Rita de Acosta Lydig (1875–1929), American socialite