Gretchen

Where Gretchen comes from

The dictionaries list Gretchen as a given name — a female given name from German origin; a pet form of Margaret — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1882
    First appearance
    #596 among girls, 10 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1971
    Gretchen Whitmer born
    American politician and attorney
  3. 1972
    Gretchen Mol born
    American actress and former model
  4. 1973
    Peak, #191
    1,351 babies named Gretchen — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1983
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #374.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from German origin; a pet form of Margaret.
Namesakes
  • Gretchen Whitmer · American politician and attorney, born 1971
  • Gretchen Mol · American actress and former model, born 1972
  • Gretchen Carlson · American broadcast journalist, author, television personality and female empowerment advocate, born 1966
  • Gretchen Walsh · American swimmer, born 2003
  • Gretchen Fraser · American alpine skier, 1919–1994

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.