Greta

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled גרטה in IL Israel and Gretta in ZA South Africa.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 23 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Greta is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name79K records spelled Greta13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Argentina, United States, Italy

  Languages: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese

  Also written Gretä, Grèta, Gréta, Gretã, Grėta

• Russian given name22K records spelled Greta53 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Poland, Croatia, United States

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Czech

  Also written Грета, Грэта, Grete, Gretta, Грете

• a separate given name10K records spelled Greta4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada

  Also written Grėta, Grēta, Gréta

• Albanian given name4.7K records spelled Greta2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Italy, Slovenia

  Also written Gréta

• Armenian given name774 records spelled Greta3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Armenia, Russia, Canada

  Also written Գրետա, Gréta

• a separate given name516 records spelled Greta3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Italy, Canada

  Also written Grętã, Gréta

• Turkish given name446 records spelled Greta5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, United States, Italy, Netherlands

  Languages: Turkish, Turkmen

  Also written Grétä, Gréta, Grėta

64 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Greta is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, Short form of Marguerite, from Greek margarites, 'pearl'.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• Short form of Margareta, a Latinate form of Margaret. It became fairly popular in the English-speaking world as a result of the fame of the Swedish-born film actress Greta Garbo (1905-92; b. Greta Louisa Gustafsson).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from Ancient Greek.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Diminutive of Margaret; "pearl"

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, diminutive of Margaret

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 141 years between 1885–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Greta Garbob. 1905SESwedish-American actress (1905–1990)
• Greta Andersenb. 1927DKDanish swimmer
• Greta Van Susterenb. 1954USAmerican commentator, television personality, and lawyer
• Greta Scacchib. 1960ITItalian-Australian actress
• Greta Gerwigb. 1983USAmerican actress and filmmaker (born 1983)
• Greta Leeb. 1983USAmerican actress (born 1983)
• Greta Scaranob. 1986ITItalian actress
• Greta Klineb. 1994USAmerican musician
• Greta Fernándezb. 1995ESCatalan actress
• Greta Thunbergb. 2003SESwedish climate protection activist (born 2003)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,063 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Greta?

We estimate roughly 70 thousand people bear Greta (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Greta have the most bearers?

We estimate about 22 thousand people bear Greta in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled greta.

Where is Greta most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Greta is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 638 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Greta compared with other names?

In Lithuania, Greta is the 123rd most common given name of 5,871 given names recorded there.

Is Greta a male or female name?

Greta is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Greta mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic diminutive of Margarita; also short form of Alegreta