Meaning not yet researched.
Gretchen: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 33 in 2025. Its best rank was #191 in 1973.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #191 in 1973; #4,292 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Gretchen in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#4,292 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1973, at #191.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Gretchen: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 33 girls in 2025. Peak: #191 in 1973 · most girls in one year: 1,351 (1973).
In 2025, 33 US girls were named Gretchen, making it the 4,292nd most common girls’ name of the year, down 818 places from #3,474 in 2024. That is 12 fewer than the 45 girls named Gretchen in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #191, reached in 1973. That year also had the most girls given the name: 1,351. For comparison, it was #1,429 in 2015 and #329 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Gretchen in 144 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1882 with 10 babies. In all, 53,837 US babies have been given the name, 99.9% of them girls and 0.1% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1970s, with 11,822 babies named Gretchen.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 778 US girls were named Gretchen; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 170. In 2025 that was about 1 in 48,705 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Greta (27,791 babies since 1880), Gretta (4,139 babies since 1880) and Gracen (3,531 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Gretel, Grete and Gretchyn are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Margaret.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Gretel (1,514), Grete (61), Gretchyn (47), Gretha (41), Gretchin (36), Gretchan (34), Grethe (7).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 33 | #4,292 | — | — |
| 2024 | 45 | #3,474 | — | — |
| 2023 | 65 | #2,681 | — | — |
| 2022 | 52 | #3,136 | — | — |
| 2021 | 61 | #2,797 | — | — |
| 2020 | 65 | #2,607 | — | — |
| 2019 | 71 | #2,490 | — | — |
| 2018 | 96 | #2,032 | — | — |
| 2017 | 120 | #1,758 | — | — |
| 2016 | 170 | #1,380 | — | — |
| 2015 | 162 | #1,429 | — | — |
| 2014 | 191 | #1,263 | — | — |
| 2013 | 203 | #1,187 | — | — |
| 2012 | 203 | #1,207 | — | — |
| 2011 | 234 | #1,057 | — | — |
| 2010 | 226 | #1,102 | — | — |
| 2009 | 265 | #1,002 | — | — |
| 2008 | 283 | #954 | — | — |
| 2007 | 316 | #883 | — | — |
| 2006 | 355 | #779 | — | — |
| 2005 | 349 | #762 | — | — |
| 2004 | 275 | #886 | — | — |
| 2003 | 316 | #782 | — | — |
| 2002 | 285 | #816 | — | — |
| 2001 | 313 | #764 | — | — |
| 2000 | 310 | #743 | — | — |
| 1999 | 301 | #746 | — | — |
| 1998 | 290 | #747 | — | — |
| 1997 | 283 | #752 | — | — |
| 1996 | 290 | #722 | — | — |
| 1995 | 283 | #724 | — | — |
| 1994 | 281 | #739 | — | — |
| 1993 | 320 | #682 | — | — |
| 1992 | 317 | #683 | — | — |
| 1991 | 377 | #596 | — | — |
| 1990 | 356 | #628 | — | — |
| 1989 | 430 | #534 | — | — |
| 1988 | 344 | #588 | — | — |
| 1987 | 359 | #559 | — | — |
| 1986 | 405 | #513 | — | — |
| 1985 | 451 | #470 | — | — |
| 1984 | 524 | #404 | — | — |
| 1983 | 596 | #374 | — | — |
| 1982 | 747 | #325 | — | — |
| 1981 | 895 | #276 | — | — |
| 1980 | 917 | #271 | 6 | #5,793 |
| 1979 | 930 | #262 | — | — |
| 1978 | 947 | #251 | — | — |
| 1977 | 1,044 | #238 | — | — |
| 1976 | 1,223 | #198 | — | — |
| 1975 | 1,175 | #209 | 9 | #3,760 |
| 1974 | 1,278 | #199 | 8 | #3,971 |
| 1973 | 1,351 | #191 | — | — |
| 1972 | 1,261 | #221 | — | — |
| 1971 | 1,347 | #224 | — | — |
| 1970 | 1,244 | #251 | 5 | #5,001 |
| 1969 | 1,106 | #263 | — | — |
| 1968 | 887 | #294 | — | — |
| 1967 | 968 | #271 | — | — |
| 1966 | 960 | #269 | — | — |
| 1965 | 906 | #295 | — | — |
| 1964 | 974 | #294 | — | — |
| 1963 | 962 | #299 | — | — |
| 1962 | 1,001 | #289 | — | — |
| 1961 | 1,044 | #285 | — | — |
| 1960 | 937 | #306 | — | — |
| 1959 | 812 | #334 | 5 | #4,222 |
| 1958 | 687 | #350 | — | — |
| 1957 | 565 | #381 | 5 | #4,213 |
| 1956 | 567 | #369 | — | — |
| 1955 | 575 | #366 | — | — |
| 1954 | 563 | #367 | — | — |
| 1953 | 578 | #351 | — | — |
| 1952 | 583 | #343 | — | — |
| 1951 | 618 | #318 | — | — |
| 1950 | 545 | #329 | — | — |
| 1949 | 608 | #316 | — | — |
| 1948 | 640 | #303 | — | — |
| 1947 | 570 | #332 | — | — |
| 1946 | 567 | #309 | — | — |
| 1945 | 493 | #308 | — | — |
| 1944 | 490 | #303 | — | — |
| 1943 | 448 | #332 | — | — |
| 1942 | 464 | #321 | — | — |
| 1941 | 441 | #310 | — | — |
| 1940 | 471 | #289 | — | — |
| 1939 | 420 | #298 | — | — |
| 1938 | 483 | #285 | — | — |
| 1937 | 350 | #334 | — | — |
| 1936 | 303 | #363 | — | — |
| 1935 | 301 | #364 | — | — |
| 1934 | 288 | #373 | — | — |
| 1933 | 240 | #414 | — | — |
| 1932 | 233 | #430 | — | — |
| 1931 | 198 | #459 | — | — |
| 1930 | 178 | #500 | — | — |
| 1929 | 152 | #556 | — | — |
| 1928 | 177 | #521 | — | — |
| 1927 | 142 | #596 | — | — |
| 1926 | 143 | #593 | — | — |
| 1925 | 144 | #606 | — | — |
| 1924 | 123 | #671 | — | — |
| 1923 | 149 | #594 | — | — |
| 1922 | 149 | #589 | — | — |
| 1921 | 144 | #604 | — | — |
| 1920 | 131 | #626 | — | — |
| 1919 | 128 | #620 | — | — |
| 1918 | 176 | #523 | — | — |
| 1917 | 246 | #402 | — | — |
| 1916 | 296 | #357 | — | — |
| 1915 | 288 | #351 | — | — |
| 1914 | 196 | #380 | — | — |
| 1913 | 158 | #385 | — | — |
| 1912 | 134 | #398 | — | — |
| 1911 | 80 | #459 | — | — |
| 1910 | 95 | #403 | — | — |
| 1909 | 66 | #463 | — | — |
| 1908 | 60 | #466 | — | — |
| 1907 | 47 | #526 | — | — |
| 1906 | 55 | #461 | — | — |
| 1905 | 42 | #533 | — | — |
| 1904 | 44 | #497 | — | — |
| 1903 | 39 | #517 | — | — |
| 1902 | 30 | #605 | — | — |
| 1901 | 41 | #471 | — | — |
| 1900 | 55 | #454 | — | — |
| 1899 | 37 | #485 | — | — |
| 1898 | 39 | #496 | — | — |
| 1897 | 26 | #601 | — | — |
| 1896 | 40 | #459 | — | — |
| 1895 | 35 | #494 | — | — |
| 1894 | 24 | #600 | — | — |
| 1893 | 32 | #480 | — | — |
| 1892 | 24 | #569 | — | — |
| 1891 | 34 | #435 | — | — |
| 1890 | 29 | #485 | — | — |
| 1889 | 22 | #548 | — | — |
| 1888 | 18 | #598 | — | — |
| 1887 | 16 | #571 | — | — |
| 1886 | 11 | #710 | — | — |
| 1885 | 5 | #1,109 | — | — |
| 1884 | 6 | #965 | — | — |
| 1883 | 7 | #781 | — | — |
| 1882 | 10 | #613 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).