Gretta
Feminine · “Pearl”
Gretta is Greta with a doubled t, and Greta is the last two syllables of Margareta — German and Swedish clipped the front off and kept the end. Underneath is the Greek for a pearl.
How old is the name Gretta?
Gretta first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Gretta alive today was born around 1967, making them about 58 years old. About 2,900 people named Gretta are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gretta most popular?
Gretta peaked in 1895, reaching #788 nationally. Today it ranks #5410, 4,622 places below that high. See the whole 1895 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From margarites to Gretta
The story of Gretta
Margaret of Antioch was one of the most popular saints of medieval Europe and her name spread everywhere in every language's version. German and Scandinavian gave Greta, Grete and Grethe, and these were ordinary in their own right by the nineteenth century. German and Scandinavian immigration brought them to America, and the peak in 1895 sits with that. Greta Garbo, born Greta Gustafsson in Stockholm, gave the name international visibility from the 1920s, and Greta Thunberg has done so again since 2018. The doubled-t spelling is chiefly American and Irish.
Meaning
Pearl
From Greek margarites, a pearl, which is itself borrowed from an eastern language, possibly Persian or Sanskrit. Margarita became Margareta in German and Scandinavian use, and Greta is the clipped form of that. The reading is settled. The doubled t of Gretta is an American and Irish spelling variant with no separate history.
How the name formed
- margarites
- Margareta
- Greta
- Gretta
Related forms: Greta · Greta · Margherita · Margaret · Grethe
Pronouncing Gretta
GRET-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a short e. German and Swedish give it a longer first vowel, GRAY-ta, and both are heard in America.
Nicknames for Gretta
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
- 1881
- Most girls named
- 196777 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #788reached in 1895
- Change vs 2022
- −42.5%23 in 2025, from 40
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.
Gretta in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Greta in German — spelling variant
- Greta in Swedish — spelling variant
- Margherita in Italian — related form
- Margaret in English — related form
- Grethe in Danish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Minnesota, California.
Grettas among us
people named Gretta are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 69,881 born in 2025 was named Gretta
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Gretta
- #5410
- Gretta on the 2025 chart
- #661
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Gretta went to 23 girls in 2025, but Greta is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 314, which makes it the 661st most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,749 places above the chart.
- Greta291
- Gretta23
About 1 girl in 5,119 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 69,881 for Gretta itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Gretta 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
Gretta beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gretta in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and among the most attractive available.
- Margaret stands behind it as a formal name of the first rank.
- Two syllables and six letters keep it compact.
- Greta is the standard spelling and will be written for it.
- The first vowel is said two ways in American use.
- It is strongly associated with the immigrant generations before 1920.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Gretta 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 Gretta? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Gretta
Feminine · #5410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Grettas 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 Gretta are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Gretta?
- Gretta is one of 2 recorded spellings. Greta is the more common one — 291 births in 2025 against 23 for Gretta.
- How popular is the name Gretta in 2025?
- Gretta ranks #5410 among US girl names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gretta?
- About 1 in every 69,881 US girls born in 2025 was named Gretta — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gretta with classmates?
- Gretta will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gretta
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aina#5410 · Sherry#5410 · Kathia#5410 · Taj#5410 · Analicia#5410 · Divya#5410 · Halimah#5410 · Leo#5410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gretta? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gretta 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