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 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.