Gretchen

Girls’ name Recorded 1882-2025

Gretchen was given to 33 girls in 2025, #4,291 among girls’ names; 53,837 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 41,700 Americans named Gretchen and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (78% of everyone recorded); the median is 53 years old and half are between 42 and 64.

Babies named Gretchen each year, first recorded in 1882

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Gretchen or Melita Names of the 1970s Names in Pennsylvania

Births of Gretchen by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Gretchen mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Gretchen is “a female given name from German origin; a pet form of Margaret.”

/ˈɡɹɛt͡ʃən/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Gretchen (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Gretchen?

#4,291 among girls’ names, 2025

Gretchen fell from #1,429 in 2015 to #4,291 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 90.8 to 20.5 per million.

1,351 babies in 1973, the peak

Gretchen peaked in 1973, when 1,351 girls were given it, #191 among girls’ names. The 33 births of 2025 are 2% of that peak.

Gretchen by year
Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 girls
2025	33	#4,291	0.02
2024	45	#3,474	0.03
2023	65	#2,681	0.04
2022	52	#3,136	0.03
2021	61	#2,797	0.04
2020	65	#2,607	0.04
2019	71	#2,490	0.04
2018	96	#2,032	0.06
2017	120	#1,758	0.07
2016	170	#1,380	0.10

Every recorded year (144)

Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 girls
2015	162	#1,429	0.09
2014	191	#1,263	0.11
2013	203	#1,187	0.12
2012	203	#1,207	0.12
2011	234	#1,057	0.13
2010	226	#1,102	0.13
2009	265	#1,002	0.14
2008	283	#954	0.15
2007	316	#883	0.16
2006	355	#779	0.19
2005	349	#762	0.19
2004	275	#886	0.15
2003	316	#782	0.17
2002	285	#816	0.16
2001	313	#764	0.17
2000	310	#743	0.17
1999	301	#745	0.17
1998	290	#747	0.16
1997	283	#752	0.16
1996	290	#722	0.17
1995	283	#723	0.16
1994	281	#738	0.16
1993	320	#682	0.18
1992	317	#683	0.17
1991	377	#596	0.20
1990	356	#627	0.19
1989	430	#534	0.23
1988	344	#588	0.19
1987	359	#559	0.21
1986	405	#513	0.24
1985	451	#470	0.26
1984	524	#404	0.31
1983	596	#374	0.36
1982	747	#325	0.44
1981	895	#276	0.54
1980	917	#271	0.55
1979	930	#262	0.58
1978	947	#251	0.62
1977	1,044	#238	0.68
1976	1,223	#198	0.83
1975	1,175	#209	0.81
1974	1,278	#199	0.87
1973	1,351	#191	0.93
1972	1,261	#221	0.83
1971	1,347	#224	0.81
1970	1,244	#251	0.71
1969	1,106	#263	0.66
1968	887	#294	0.54
1967	968	#271	0.59
1966	960	#269	0.57
1965	906	#295	0.51
1964	974	#294	0.51
1963	962	#299	0.50
1962	1,001	#289	0.51
1961	1,044	#285	0.52
1960	937	#306	0.46
1959	812	#334	0.40
1958	687	#350	0.34
1957	565	#381	0.28
1956	567	#369	0.28
1955	575	#366	0.29
1954	563	#366	0.29
1953	578	#350	0.31
1952	583	#342	0.31
1951	618	#318	0.34
1950	545	#329	0.32
1949	608	#316	0.36
1948	640	#303	0.38
1947	570	#332	0.32
1946	567	#309	0.36
1945	493	#308	0.38
1944	490	#303	0.37
1943	448	#332	0.32
1942	464	#321	0.34
1941	441	#310	0.37
1940	471	#289	0.41
1939	420	#298	0.38
1938	483	#285	0.44
1937	350	#334	0.33
1936	303	#363	0.29
1935	301	#364	0.29
1934	288	#373	0.28
1933	240	#414	0.24
1932	233	#430	0.22
1931	198	#459	0.19
1930	178	#500	0.16
1929	152	#556	0.14
1928	177	#521	0.15
1927	142	#596	0.12
1926	143	#593	0.12
1925	144	#606	0.12
1924	123	#671	0.10
1923	149	#594	0.12
1922	149	#589	0.12
1921	144	#604	0.12
1920	131	#626	0.11
1919	128	#620	0.11
1918	176	#523	0.15
1917	246	#402	0.23
1916	296	#357	0.28
1915	288	#351	0.29
1914	196	#380	0.26
1913	158	#385	0.25
1912	134	#398	0.24
1911	80	#459	0.19
1910	95	#403	0.24
1909	66	#463	0.19
1908	60	#466	0.18
1907	47	#526	0.15
1906	55	#461	0.19
1905	42	#533	0.14
1904	44	#497	0.16
1903	39	#517	0.15
1902	30	#605	0.11
1901	41	#471	0.17
1900	55	#454	0.18
1899	37	#485	0.16
1898	39	#496	0.15
1897	26	#601	0.11
1896	40	#459	0.17
1895	35	#494	0.15
1894	24	#600	0.11
1893	32	#480	0.15
1892	24	#569	0.11
1891	34	#435	0.18
1890	29	#485	0.15
1889	22	#548	0.12
1888	18	#598	0.10
1887	16	#571	0.11
1886	11	#710	0.08
1885	5	#1,109	0.04
1884	6	#965	0.05
1883	7	#781	0.06
1882	10	#613	0.09

Download Gretchen’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.

Is Gretchen a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Gretchen has been given almost only to girls: 38 boys in 144 years of records.

Girls and boys named Gretchen: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Gretchen, and how old are they?

41,700 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 78% of the 53,837 Americans ever recorded as Gretchen. The median Gretchen alive today is 53 years old; half are between 42 and 64.

The 2020 Census counted 44,623 people named Gretchen (44,599 women and girls, 24 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 43,870 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% above that prediction.

Alive today, by age

100-10910

90-99340

80-892,180

70-794,280

60-697,590

50-59 (median)11,000

40-497,140

30-393,280

20-293,040

10-192,240

0-9604

Alive today, by generation

By generation
Generation	Born	Alive
Silent Generation	1928-1945	2,170
Baby Boomers	1946-1964	10,600
Generation X	1965-1980	16,300
Millennials	1981-1996	6,760
Generation Z	1997-2012	4,550
Generation Alpha	2013-2025	1,330

An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.

Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).

Where are babies named Gretchen born?

The states with the most babies named Gretchen are Pennsylvania, Ohio and California, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among girls’ names in the state in 2025
State	Since 1910	Rank, girls	vs. national
Pennsylvania	4,227	not ranked	1.4×
Ohio	3,986	not ranked	1.5×
California	3,746	not ranked	0.8×
New York	3,552	not ranked	0.8×
Illinois	2,784	not ranked	1.0×
Minnesota	2,680	not ranked	2.4×
Michigan	2,607	not ranked	1.2×
Indiana	1,975	not ranked	1.4×
Wisconsin	1,935	not ranked	1.6×
Texas	1,825	not ranked	0.5×

Where Gretchen is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Gretchen is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 2.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

Minnesota2.41×

Wisconsin1.59×

Washington1.59×

Iowa1.59×

Ohio1.48×

Oregon1.48×

Indiana1.42×

Pennsylvania1.40×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Gretchen with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Gretchen

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

Name	Recorded	1880-2025
Melita	1,861
Delena	2,173
Coreen	2,475

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Gretchen and names like it

Compare Gretchen and MelitaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
The most given names of the 1970sGretchen peaked in 1973.
Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Gretchen since 1910.
The top names of 1973The year the most babies were named Gretchen.
The names of Generation XMost people named Gretchen alive today were born 1965-1980.
Names starting with GMost given first.

Compare Gretchen with another name