Greer
Feminine · “watchful”
Greer is given to both — 3,085 girls and 733 boys since 1880. See Greer as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Greer is Gregory made Scottish — the Greek gregorein, to be watchful, which was the whole point of a monastic name about staying awake.
How old is the name Greer?
Greer first appears in US birth records in 1941 — 84 years ago. The typical Greer alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 2,900 people named Greer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Greer most popular?
Greer peaked in 1943, reaching #1342 nationally. Today it ranks #1844, 502 places below that high. See the whole 1943 chart.
Greer appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From gregorein to Greer
The story of Greer
Sixteen popes were called Gregory, and Gregory the Great sent the mission to England in 597. Scotland contracted Gregor to Grier and Greer, which became a surname. Greer Garson, born Eileen, took her mother's maiden name and carried it to Hollywood from the 1930s. It appears in the American registers in current use.
Meaning
watchful, alert
Through Gregor and Gregory, from the Greek gregorein, 'to be watchful' or 'to keep awake' — a name adopted by early Christians for its sense of spiritual vigilance. Greer is the Scots contraction, and became a surname. The Greek is ordinary and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- gregorein
- Gregory
- Gregor
- Greer
Related forms: Grier · Gregor · Gregory
Pronouncing Greer
GREER
One syllable. Greer and Grier are homophones; only the spelling differs.
Nicknames for Greer
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1941
- Most girls named
- 2025108 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1342reached in 1943
- Change vs 2023
- +42.1%108 in 2025, from 76
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Greer in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Grier in Scottish — spelling variant
- Gregor in Scottish — related form
- Gregory in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, Tennessee.
Greers among us
people named Greer are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 14,882 born in 2025 was named Greer
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Anise test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Greer's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anise climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anise's path sketches the road Greer is walking now.
Greer sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Greer is headed
Greer should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Greer beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Greer in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The watchful meaning is transparent and the monastic reason for it is genuinely interesting.
- Sixteen popes carry the parent name.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It reads as a surname and is thoroughly unisex.
- Grier is an equally established spelling.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Greer
Feminine · #1844 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Greers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,900 people named Greer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Greer in 2025?
- Greer ranks #1844 among US girl names in 2025, with 108 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Greer?
- About 1 in every 14,882 US girls born in 2025 was named Greer — 108 in all.
- Will my child share the name Greer with classmates?
- Greer will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Greer
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vivien#1844 · Francine#1844 · Rhaenyra#1844 · Ambar#1844 · Darlene#1844 · Emberleigh#1844 · Elissa#1844 · Leen#1844
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Greer? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Greer and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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