Given name
Greta
“resembling a pearl”
Greta is used as a given name. One German interpretation is “resembling a pearl.”
Original GermanGrete
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “resembling a pearl.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
How it developed
Greta is used as a shortened form of Margareta.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1885. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Greta through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 27,791
- 5 boys · 27,786 girls
- Most popular year
- 1967
- 534 babies
- 2025
- 291
- #908 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −32%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 291 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 908 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 32.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 534 in 1967. In 2025, Minnesota had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (40). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 22,240 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Greta’s family of names
Greta is a short form of Margaret. In Swedish usage, Greta shares a linguistic root with the Finnish form Reeta. Greta has a related form in Gretchen.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Greta has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 18
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 13
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 5
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Greta
- Greta ThunbergSwedish climate protection activist (born 2003)
- Greta GarboSwedish-American actress (1905–1990)
- Greta GerwigAmerican actress and filmmaker (born 1983)
- Greta ScacchiItalian-Australian actressborn 1960
- Greta LeeAmerican actress (born 1983)
- Greta AndersenDanish swimmer1927–2023
- Greta SchröderGerman actress (1891–1967)
- Greta JohanssonSwedish diver (1895–1978)
- Greta Nissenactress (1906 – 1988)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Greta, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“born of the nobility”
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“woman from Rome”
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