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Girl · Greek, through Swedish
Greta
Say it: GREH-tah
Meaning
A short form of Margareta, from Greek margarites 'pearl'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
A Swedish short form that spread worldwide through Greta Garbo's fame.
Its wave through time
A revival, back after decades away
In the United States
- 26,238 babies given this name since 1885
- At its height in 1932, about 1 in 2,700 girls
- 365 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Grete, Gretel, Gretl
| Danish | Grete |
|---|---|
| German | Gretchen |
| English | Greta |
| Swedish | Greta |
| Italian | Greta |
Famous bearers
- Greta Garbo, Swedish film actress
- Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.