Gretchen
Meaning
diminutive of Margaret, pearl
Gretchen around the world
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
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Gretchen peaked in the 1960s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
192 people · the #26,176 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 41
Among people named Gretchen living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Gretchen
People given the name Gretchen in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Gretchen deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Gretchen 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 Gretchen fits with your family’s names and surname.
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