Grethel
Feminine · “pearl”
Grethel is a German short form that outgrew its original. Behind it stands Margarete, and behind that a Greek word for a pearl. The Grimms put a Gretel in one of the most retold stories in the world, and the name has never been able to walk away from the gingerbread house since — though in Central America and among Spanish-speaking families it is simply a name, used without the story attached.
How old is the name Grethel?
Grethel first appears in US birth records in 1904 — 121 years ago. The typical Grethel alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 300 people named Grethel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Grethel most popular?
Grethel peaked in 1906, reaching #1321 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 13,621 places below that high. See the whole 1906 chart.
Where it comes from
From margarites to Grethel
The story of Grethel
German diminutives worked by trimming a long name to a single syllable and softening what was left, which is how Margarete produced Gretel, Grethel and Gretchen inside the same tradition. The Grimm brothers collected the tale that fixed Gretel in every language it was translated into, and after that the name could not be heard neutrally in Germany or in English. Spanish-speaking countries received it later and by a different route, mainly through German settlement in Central America and the Caribbean, and there Grethel traveled as an ordinary given name without the fairy tale doing much work. That is why the name turns up in American records among Spanish-speaking families as readily as German ones.
Meaning
pearl
Greek margarites means a pearl, and it reached Greek from further east — the word traveled with the object. Latin took it as margarita, and it became Margaret in England, Margarete in Germany, Marguerite in France, and about forty short forms besides: Greta, Grete, Gretchen, Meta, Maisie, Daisy, Rita, Peggy. Grethel belongs to that crowd, formed by clipping the front off Margarete and adding the German diminutive -el. The pearl is intact all the way down.
How the name formed
- margarites
- Margarete
- Gretel
- Grethel
Related forms: Gretel · Gretchen · Margarita · Greta
Pronouncing Grethel
GRET-el
GRET-el in German and in English, stress at the front, the h silent and doing nothing. Spanish speakers say it much the same way, sometimes gre-TEL with the weight moved back. The th is not the English th sound in any of these.
Nicknames for Grethel
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
- 1904
- Most girls named
- 192120 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1321reached in 1906
- Change vs 2024
- −50.0%5 in 2025, from 10
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.
Grethel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gretel in German — spelling variant
- Gretchen in German — related form
- Margarita in Spanish — related form
- Greta in Swedish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Grethels among us
people named Grethel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Grethel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Grethel 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
Grethel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Grethel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables, front-stressed, and said the same way in German, Spanish and English.
- It descends from one of the largest and best-documented name families in Europe, so the history is genuinely rich.
- Greta sits inside it as a ready-made short form that has stayed in fashion far better than the long one.
- The fairy tale is not going anywhere. Anyone who knows the story hears the story, and the association arrives before the pearl does.
- The silent h invites Gretel, Gretchen and Grethal as spellings, and the correction has to be made each time.
- In English-speaking rooms it reads as distinctly German; in Spanish-speaking ones it does not read that way at all, which means the name lands differently depending on where it is said.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Grethel to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Grethel? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Grethel
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Grethels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Grethel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Grethel in 2025?
- Grethel ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Grethel?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Grethel — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Grethel with classmates?
- Grethel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Grethel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Grethel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Grethel and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle