Given name
Grethe
“resembling a pearl”
Grethe is a variant of Greta. One German interpretation is “resembling a pearl.”
Original GermanGrete
Meaning & origin
What it means
Grethe is a variant of Greta. One German interpretation is “resembling a pearl.”
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Norwegian usage, Grethe is a diminutive of Margarete. In German usage, Grethe is a diminutive of Margarethe.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1932. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Grethe through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 7
- 0 boys · 7 girls
- Most popular year
- 1932
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 7 in 1932. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 190 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.
Grethe’s family of names
In Norwegian usage, Grethe is a diminutive of Margarete. In Danish usage, Grethe has a conventional equivalent in the French form Marguerite. Grethe has a related form in Greta.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Grethe has relatives in 6 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Germanwhere Grethe comes from · 3 names
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 8
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Grethe
- Grethe IngmannDanish singer (1938–1990)
- Grethe KauslandNorwegian actor and singer (1947–2007)
- Grethe WeiserGerman actress (1903-1970)
- Grethe RaskDanish surgeon, one of the earliest non-Africans to die of AIDS1930–1977
- Grethe Rytter HasleNorwegian scientist and planktologist (1920-2013)
- Grethe BartramDanish wartime collaborator1924–2017
- Grethe Sønckactress, singer (1929-2010)
- Monica ValvikNorwegian cyclistborn 1970
- Grethe GrünbergEstonian figure skater (born 1988)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
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