Gretchen
Gretchen is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 43 births. Its best rank was 191st, in 1973.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 430.00% of girls
- Peak year
- 19731,350 births
- Best rank
- #191in 1973
- Since 1882
- 53,768people given the name
The story in the numbers
53,768 girls have been named Gretchen in the United States since 1882, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1973, with 1,350 births.
The name has all but left use: 43 births in 2024, against 1,350 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1968, and the 1970s alone account for 22%. It has spent 126 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Gretchen | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 95 | |
| 1890s | 320 | |
| 1900s | 479 | |
| 1910s | 1,797 | |
| 1920s | 1,454 | |
| 1930s | 2,994 | |
| 1940s | 5,192 | |
| 1950s | 6,094 | |
| 1960s | 9,745 | |
| 1970s | 11,802 | |
| 1980s | 5,668 | |
| 1990s | 3,099 | |
| 2000s | 3,067 | |
| 2010s | 1,676 | |
| 2020s | 286 |
In 1973, its biggest year
Gretchen was the 191st most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1973 were Jennifer, Amy, Michelle, Kimberly and Lisa. See all of 1973.
Names that rose and fell with Gretchen
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Melitapeak 1973
- Delenapeak 1967
- Carmanpeak 1970
- Coreenpeak 1968
- Tonitapeak 1965
- Lanitapeak 1958
- Jenettepeak 1982
- Teresitapeak 1962
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.