The baby name Greta belonged to a Hollywood legend, but today it brings to mind a world-changing activist.
Thanks to Abbey for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
MINI MARGARET
The baby name Greta started out as a Margaret nickname, one of many. It occurs in German, but also Italian and Swedish. In fact, you’ll hear across much of Europe and throughout the English-speaking world.
You can hear Greta nested in Margaret, but a common variant of the name makes it even clearer how this nickname developed: Margareta.
It’s not the only diminutive starting with Gr. There’s Gretchen, a name that peaked in the 1970s and fell out of use not long after Mean Girls became an early twenty-first century sensation. Gretel, too, comes from Margaret, but despite Hollywood revamps of the classic tale, it’s never caught on in the US.
By twenty-first century standards, Greta feels more like a stand-alone name, independent from Margaret, but borrowing some of the classic name’s strength.
GRETA GARBO
Greta Gustafsson became one of the world’s most famous bearers of the name. Born in Stockholm in 1905, you know her as Hollywood icon Greta Garbo.
She rose to fame in silent films, and became one of the few leading ladies to make the transition to talkies.
In 1930, Garbo earned an Oscar nomination for her first role with sound, as Anna Christie in an adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer-winning play of the same name. More nominations followed over the next two decades, for Camille and Two-Faced Woman, but she never took home the statue.
Garbo retired in 1941, and attempted to live a low-profile, if luxurious, existence. We remember her uttering “I want to be alone” in 1932’s Grand Hotel. Later in life, she’d quibble with the meaning, emphasizing that her character wasn’t looking for mere solitude, but a certain freedom from demands.
BY THE NUMBERS
Names fueled by the Golden Age of Hollywood – think Audrey and Ava – rose into the US Top 100 early in the 2000s. But Greta languished.
In the 1930s, at the height of Garbo’s stardom, the baby name Greta briefly ranked in the 300s. But it spent years out of the rankings entirely. It returned in 1999, but has yet to re-enter the Top 500.
It’s possible, of course, that some of the many Margarets answered to Greta. But Peggy and Maggie and Meg feel like the more popular options over the years.
THUNBERG
In years years, journalist Greta Van Susteren comes to mind. So does actor and filmmaker Greta Gerwig, who has already racked up a handful of Academy Award nominations, most recently for Little Women.
But the most famous Greta of the moment is young climate activist Thunberg. Time named her Person of the Year, and she’s racked up Nobel Prize nominations, too – all while still in her teens.
There’s even talk of “The Greta Effect,” referring to a wave of young activists inspired by Thunberg’s leadership.
It’s possible she’s influenced the name’s popularity already. In 2017, Greta ranked #633. By 2018, it climbed to #587. Though her first major public appearances came in the latter half of 2018.
That might signal that the baby name Greta was already on the rise, before it made headlines.
BABY NAME GRETA: THE NEXT BIG THING?
Overall, Greta hits the sweet spot for lots of families. It’s familiar, easily spelled and pronounced, but relatively uncommon. That’s a trifecta! Add in that it is nickname-proof, offers plenty of history, and sounds feminine, but not too frilly, and I can imagine Greta joining names like Ruby, Leah, and Grace near the top of the charts.
What do you think of the baby name Greta? Would you consider it for a daughter?
First published on July 29, 2011, this post was revised substantially on June 3, 2020.
I was born in England just prior to WW2. My name is pronounced greetah but is spelled Greta. I was told that was the way it was pronounced in England. Having emmigrated to North America as a child with family, I have had to put up with being called Gre-tah since a child by those other than close firends and family.
I like my name but not the mispronunciation of it.
I watched the movie “Begin Again” this weekend and Keira Knightley plays a Gretta. I really liked the name in the film and have added it to my shortlist, though I prefer the more common Greta spelling.
Love this name. Sounds tough and sweet at the same time. I prefer Gretchen — one of my favorite girl names ever — but my wife hates it. So it never made any traction when we were discussing baby names.
Gretchen makes me think of Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. It makes me really, really love the name. There was a rumor that they were adapting her book for television with Kristin Davis as Gretchen – wonder what ever happened?
I love Greta! Greta seems seems strong, elegant, classy, someone who gets things done and is not afraid of anyone.
Not my hubby’s style at all, so I’ll never use it in real life, but I have used it in a children’s story. Interestingly enough, Vera, which equals Greta in popularity, is the name of the girl in my new story. (Nothing I’ll ever publish, as I’m a terrible writer, but I enjoy writing for myself and my daughter.)
My 1 year old is a darling little Greta! I was obsessed with the name when a friend (who has a Margaret, nn Maggie) mentioned it before I was even pregnant. Unique but not weird, and I love the German roots. And it took me quite awhile to not automatically type Great instead, which perfectly describes our Greta.
It’s always fun to write about a name that seems relatively underused and hear that it is being worn so well by real-life people!
Thanks for such a wonderful write up (and for selecting such a gorgeous photo of the Greta of all Gretas (swoon!)). Interesting–but not terribly surprising–that there’s such strong love and hate for this name. But, despite my dislike of the name Gretchen (for the exact reasons identified by some of the negative responders above), I’m still loving sweet Greta and it remains our first choice if our second is a girl.
I like Greta, and I like Margaret. I also like some of the variations that Abby mentioned in the beginning. My favorite Margaret nickname would be Margot, followed by Daisy and Pearl. I would love to meet a little Greta, and wouldn’t hesitate to use it if my future husband was dead set on it. Nice choice, Abby!
Love it! Considered it for our 2nd girl in 2007.
I like Greta, though I don’t like that the T is pronounced (at least in my accent) closer to a D. That said, I would love to meet a little Greta!
A lot of 2-syllable-ends-in-A girls names are getting pretty tired. Choices like Greta and Vera would be breaths of fresh air 😉
I like Greta. Makes me think of fairytale Gretel and the name Grace. I’ve never known a Greta, so that gives it plus-points to me. And I do like girls names ending in ‘a’. Plus it does have a ‘strong’ image in my mind, which is nice for a girls name.
Having lived in the US for 10 years, I don’t have the negative word associations of grotty and grit anymore.
I guess I’d never actually use the name though, since we already have a G named child and I’d prefer to not repeat initials.
I have a 10-yr-old cousin named Greta, which I also always type as great. 🙂
I’m not a big fan of G- names in general (don’t much care for that letter), but Greta has lots of qualities I like in girls’ names – short, snappy, lots of consonants.
Count me in as a ‘yea’ for Greta. I prefer Marjorie as a Margaret derivative, but Greta definitely is the more exotic twist, rather than the sweet, girlish, botanical side of Marjorie. I really like Greta and the possible use of it as a nickname might even persuade me to consider the Margery spelling (then you get *both* names – score!)
Put me in the “fan” column. I find it classic but quirky, feminine but very strong, uncommon but not weird. Personally, I would use it, though it’s not at the very top of my list. I think the main thing holding it back, along with the sort of counter-cultural nonvowel-ness, is that it never completely dropped off the face of the earth. Unlike Ava, everyone probably knew at least a couple of Gretas, or at least Gretchens. So it’s one of those names that just sort of hovers around the same popularity level.
I have an infant cousin named Greta! I thought it was a fantastic choice.
I know a tween Greta, and I have a set of friends who seriously considered it. I like it a lot, better than Gretchen.
I like Greta, though wouldn’t use it. The classic charm is appealing but it’s a little too clunky to want to yell it across a playground.
It is actually pronounced GREH-tah in German as well (it’s my native language).
I also like Greta because it sounds tough and also old fashioned and sweet. It’d be a nice way to honor my grandmother with out calling a daughter “Gertrude” which I like but my husband doesn’t. “Greta” also sounds like a name to me unlike our previous front-runner “Goldie” which always sounded like a nickname no matter how much I said it.
I think part of the reason that Americans like Greta is that we tend to pronounce our Ts differently depending on where they’re placed in the word. Middle Ts like “Greta” and “mutter” tend to get pronounced as Ds or somewhere in between a T and a D. Ts in the beginning, end, or middle following a consonant get the soft brittle T sound such as “talon”, “cat”, and “dentist”.
This pronunciation difference is a good point. When I imagine a British person saying it I hear them doing that ‘r’ thing at the end that they sometimes do…Gretter. Yuck. Definitely closer to those gritty, grotty, gutter words.
I love the name Greta. I am currently pregnant and if it’s a girl we are planning on naming her Greta Jewel. Greta to honor our German heritage and Jewel after my Grandmother.
Congratulations – Greta Jewel is a lovely combination!
Thank you! Now we just need to find a boy’s name we both like. I have been reading EVERY post and have scrolled down the master list of boys names but nothing is clicking. Any suggestions:) Our last name is German–Ullrich.
I actually adore the name Greta, and not just because I always mistakenly tap her out as great, but that is a plus. Personally, I have never liked the name Margaret, but I do love many of her short forms, such as Maggie, Peggy and even Margot to a certain point.
I think Greta falls into the short and quirky category for me, which is one of my favourite categories.
It is a good category, Lou! No spelling required. 🙂
Love. I’ve seriously considered using it.
I’m not a fan of Greta to the point I’d never use it. If I were to name a daughter Marguerite, Margery or Margaret, I’m more likely to nn her Daisy over Greta. It’s just that I dislike the Gr- sound. I growl at the kids when I’m upset about something so it’s not an attractive sound to me. I’d rather hear the Gl- sound (hence my love for Gloriana & Gloria). Greta’s okay for someone else but very not for me.
I love Marguerite, nn Daisy! It has been on my lists, too. i had a great-aunt Margarat called Greit. (How my not-Dutch family arrived on a Dutch short form in small-town Pennsylvania in the first half of the 20th century is anybody’s guess.) Plus, Arthur has an Aunt Gosia – the Polish equivalent of Greta. I do like Greta, but I like so many forms of Margaret, I don’t know how we’d ever narrow it down. The only Margaret I know who is my age goes by Margaret, and the little one in my neighborhood answers to Maggie – which I also think is great!
I grew up with a Greta. Exotic, sure, but also extremely gutteral sounding to me. I almost feel like it belongs in a Jean M. Auel book.
I think Greta’s problem for many is its similarity to things like grit gritter, and grot, grotty — that combination of consonants to many an ear can GRATE!
I rather like it though — I much prefer it to Margaret. Definitely what we’d call a Marmite name in the UK (Marmite is a sort of spread which everyone either loves or hates!).
You’re probably right about that, Nook – though I think those sounds might have stronger negative associations in British English than in American English. For Greta, my fingers want to type “great” – and I associate the “gr” sound with green and growing, too.
In my accent, Margaret is usually pronounced as Mar-grit, but when it’s pronounced with three syllables — it’s the middle -guh- that grates my ear. Greta “fixes” that issue and I actually like the Greh- sound a lot (Gregory is one of my favorite names and my daughter’s middle name is Sigrid.)
The differences in British English and American English are so curious. 🙂
Sigrid! Ah one of my faves, love love!
My great grandma is called Greta and we all pronounce it Gree-ta so I was surprised that wasn’t the English pronounciation. I much prefer it to the shortened Greh-ta version. Lovely name, very tempting!
In my lists of name favourites I have a small group of what I call “throaty” sounding names. The list includes Greta, and I was thrilled that a woman on my April 2011 birth board decided to use the name. I personally prefer the longer Margaret (which I LOVE, but my husband hates). Some other inclusions to the list are Dagmar and Gertrude. Yes, the list only features female names; I suppose because I like the idea of the somewhat harsh sounds on what has traditionally been called the gentle sex. By contrast, a name I would love to see on boys again is Beverley, although I could never bring myself to use it.