Greta
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Meaning
pearl (German short form of Margarete)
The story
Greta is a short form with a long chain behind it: Greta to Margareta, Margareta to Margaret, then through Latin Margarita to Greek margarites, pearl. The chain matters because pearl is an inherited root, not a direct promise about a bearer. Greta Garbo gives the name a story of pieces brought together. The Swedish Film Institute calls Gösta Berling's Saga her breakthrough and says it opened the way to Hollywood. When the film was restored, no single complete source did all the work. Material from Sweden, Portugal, France, Germany, and Russia helped recover footage, tinting, format, and intertitles. The result is a different kind of return: a young actor's breakthrough made visible again through cooperation among archives. Garbo's later career cannot be reduced to one film, and the film's survival cannot be credited to one holding. Greta's form chain and the restoration both reward following the links.
The formal names behind Greta
Greta is an established short form of this name.
Margaret · Greek origin · pearl
Greta across languages
One shared root links 17 names across 7 languages.
Shared root: from Greek margarites "pearl", by way of Latin Margarita
The constellation
13 more branches of this family
How popular is Greta around the world?
In the United States, 1,918 babies were named Greta between 2020 and 2025. In Austria, 35 girls named Greta were born in 2025, the 174th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
Greta is on the official records of the United States, Austria, Norway, Argentina, South Australia, Mexico City, Spain, Poland, Scotland, Chile, England and Wales, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 11,000
In the United States, 1,918 babies were named Greta between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Greta peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Greta has stayed between 1,416 and 4,712 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Austria
1 in 2,200
In Austria, 35 girls named Greta were born in 2025, the 174th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Norway
1 in 3,300register 2026
In Norway, 8 girls were given the name Greta in 2025.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Argentina
1 in 5,500
In Argentina, 121 newborns were given the name Greta in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 girls were registered as Greta in 2017.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Mexico City City
1 in 11,000
In Mexico City, there were 11 registrations of Greta in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
1 in 11,000
In Spain, 3,935 residents are named Greta, the 568th most common name among women, with a mean age of 12.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Poland
1 in 14,000
In Poland, 18 girls named Greta were born in 2025, the 266th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 girls named Greta were registered in 2024, the 790th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Chile
1 in 20,000
In Chile, 9 girls were registered as Greta in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
England and Wales
1 in 29,000
In England and Wales, 20 girls named Greta were born in 2025, ranked 1,512th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 30,000
In Canada, 12 girls named Greta were born in 2024, ranked 1,854th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Brazil
1 in 500,000
At the 2022 census, 367 people in Brazil were named Greta, ranked 16,547th, with a median age of 30.
Among people named Greta living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 36 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Ireland
last on record 2024
Greta is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Montevideo City
last on record 1996
Greta is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 2020
Greta is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
Keep exploring
Names like Greta · Names that go with Greta · Middle names for Greta · German baby names · Familiar but never popular
The Greta deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Greta truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Greta fits with your family’s names and surname.
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