Given name & surname

Gretha

“resembling a pearl”

Gretha is a variant of Greta. One German interpretation is “resembling a pearl.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

Gretha is a variant of Greta. One German interpretation is “resembling a pearl.”

Explained through its name family

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1916. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Gretha through the years

Babies since 1880
41
0 boys · 41 girls
Most popular year
1928
8 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
02468192019401960198020002025Highest share 19280.0
Gretha in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1916–2025, per million girls born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 1966. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 8 in 1928. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 137 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.

Gretha’s family of names

Gretha has a related form in Greta.

Walk Gretha’s family in the name graph

GrethaGretaGretthaGretchenGrettaGretelGreteGretheGret

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 2

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Across languages 6

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

People named Gretha

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Gretha, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Old-fashioned

Vilma

“determined protector” · “will”

19Very rareRising

>99% girls

Old-fashioned

Arla

Arla is a feminine given name.

25RareRising

>99% girls

Old-fashioned

Elnora

“shining light”

21RareRising

>99% girls

Italian · Old-fashioned

Nella

“the shining light”

34RareSteady

>99% girls

German · Old-fashioned

Erma

“one who is complete; universal”

24RareRising

>99% girls

Greek · Old-fashioned

Rhoda

“woman from Rhodes” · “resembling a rose; a woman from Rhodes”

31RareRising

>99% girls

German · Old-fashioned

Bertha

“one who is famously bright and beautiful”

26RareSteady

>99% girls

Old-fashioned

Petra

“stone”

45UncommonSteady

>99% girls

Sibling ideas

Names that share Gretha’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.