A name. A world of connections.

Grethe

“pearl”

feminineLatin script

Hear the name

Origin: German
4 language contexts: German Danish Finnish +1 more
Follow the evidence: 11 cited sources Source-reported

01 / Meaning & origin

About Grethe

Grethe is a feminine given name documented in German, Danish, Finnish and 1 other language. English Wiktionary traces it to German. It is a form of Margarete, for which English Wikipedia gives the meaning “pearl”.

2 source accounts

German origin

Source-reported

Meaning: “pearl”

Originally a German diminutive of Margarete, first recorded in Norway in the 18th century.

Sources for this account (6)

Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Chinese Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: MargareteCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Explore 1 more accountHide additional accountsSource accounts may describe the same origin.

German Wiktionary accountSource-reported[1] Kurzform von Margarethe

[1] Kurzform von Margarethe

Sources for this account (1)

German Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

02 / Across borders

Where Grethe is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Grethe’s connections around the world.

2 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Published statistics

United States, 1932: 7 girls (rank 3568).

Explore United States

4 of 8 countries

03 / By the numbers

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Norway

1945–2025 Spelling: Grethe

Region and dataset

Recorded category girls

Latest · 2012: 4; births; Rank #561
Peak year: 1956; 364 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Statistics Norway · Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Grethe in Norway, girls: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1945	341	21	observed
1946	333	24	observed
1947	350	22	observed
1948	319	22	observed
1949	309	25	observed
1950	305	24	observed
1951	267	29	observed
1952	270	32	observed
1953	269	32	observed
1954	258	30	observed
1955	276	27	observed
1956	364	15	observed
1957	364	13	observed
1958	311	22	observed
1959	282	29	observed
1960	250	33	observed
1961	226	36	observed
1962	243	33	observed
1963	220	40	observed
1964	199	47	observed
1965	258	32	observed
1966	203	45	observed
1967	169	50	observed
1968	198	44	observed
1969	157	57	observed
1970	134	60	observed
1971	116	69	observed
1972	109	72	observed
1973	90	84	observed
1974	68	102	observed
1975	69	102	observed
1976	61	105	observed
1977	48	127	observed
1978	31	173	observed
1979	43	137	observed
1980	37	158	observed
1981	28	193	observed
1982	23	219	observed
1983	19	247	observed
1984	21	230	observed
1985	27	193	observed
1986	16	286	observed
1987	11	383	observed
1988	7	508	observed
1989	16	300	observed
1990	14	331	observed
1991	13	334	observed
1992	8	456	observed
1993	9	407	observed
1994	14	297	observed
1995	8	438	observed
1996	10	367	observed
1997	6	489	observed
1998	7	455	observed
1999	6	485	observed
2000	9	385	observed
2001	6	473	observed
2002	no value	no value	not covered
2003	4	575	observed
2004	4	556	observed
2005	no value	no value	not covered
2006	no value	no value	not covered
2007	no value	no value	not covered
2008	no value	no value	not covered
2009	no value	no value	not covered
2010	no value	no value	not covered
2011	no value	no value	not covered
2012	4	561	observed
2013	no value	no value	not covered
2014	no value	no value	not covered
2015	no value	no value	not covered
2016	no value	no value	not covered
2017	no value	no value	not covered
2018	no value	no value	not covered
2019	no value	no value	not covered
2020	no value	no value	not covered
2021	no value	no value	not covered
2022	no value	no value	not covered
2023	no value	no value	not covered
2024	no value	no value	not covered
2025	no value	no value	not covered

About this dataset and its counting rules

Statistics count the spelling “Grethe” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure births. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: Born persons for the individual girls' and boys' names published in SSB table 10467.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: SSB API: '.' means category not applicable; '..' means data not available. Null cells are not emitted and remain unknown, never zero.
Ranking: computed by NameStoria from published counts; ties share a rank, next rank skips

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

04 / Through time

History

Historical scholarship

Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.

1884From the archives
Grethe— “pearl”
_Grethe_, _f._ _Ger._ Gr. pearl, 121
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Glossary of Christian Names · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Grethe Ingmann
1938–1990
Danish singer (1938–1990)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Grethe Kausland
1947–2007
Norwegian actor and singer (1947–2007)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Grethe Weiser
1903–1970
German actress (1903-1970)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Grethe Rask
1930–1977
Danish surgeon, one of the earliest non-Africans to die of AIDS
Wikipedia Wikidata source

A little story to keep

A name worth keeping.

Take the story of Grethe with you. Create a personal name passport with its meaning, roots and connections.

06 / Behind the facts

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms8

Wikidata Q1546039CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Chinese Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: MargareteCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
German Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences2

Wikimedia Commons: File:De-Grethe.oggCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wikimedia Commons: File:LL-Q9027 (swe)-Moonhouse-Grethe.wavCC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Historical referencesOriginal texts and their publication details1

Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Glossary of Christian NamesPublic domain (Project Gutenberg) · rev. 2023-03-30 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates2

Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025
Statistics Norway (SSB) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

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About Grethe

2 source accounts

German origin

Source-reported

Meaning: “pearl”

Originally a German diminutive of Margarete, first recorded in Norway in the 18th century.

Sources for this account (6)

Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Chinese Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: MargareteCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Explore 1 more accountHide additional accountsSource accounts may describe the same origin.

German Wiktionary accountSource-reported[1] Kurzform von Margarethe

[1] Kurzform von Margarethe

Sources for this account (1)

German Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Where Grethe is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Grethe’s connections around the world.

2 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Published statistics

United States, 1932: 7 girls (rank 3568).

Explore United States

4 of 8 countries

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Norway

1945–2025 Spelling: Grethe

Region and dataset

Recorded category girls

Latest · 2012: 4; births; Rank #561
Peak year: 1956; 364 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Statistics Norway · Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Grethe in Norway, girls: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1945	341	21	observed
1946	333	24	observed
1947	350	22	observed
1948	319	22	observed
1949	309	25	observed
1950	305	24	observed
1951	267	29	observed
1952	270	32	observed
1953	269	32	observed
1954	258	30	observed
1955	276	27	observed
1956	364	15	observed
1957	364	13	observed
1958	311	22	observed
1959	282	29	observed
1960	250	33	observed
1961	226	36	observed
1962	243	33	observed
1963	220	40	observed
1964	199	47	observed
1965	258	32	observed
1966	203	45	observed
1967	169	50	observed
1968	198	44	observed
1969	157	57	observed
1970	134	60	observed
1971	116	69	observed
1972	109	72	observed
1973	90	84	observed
1974	68	102	observed
1975	69	102	observed
1976	61	105	observed
1977	48	127	observed
1978	31	173	observed
1979	43	137	observed
1980	37	158	observed
1981	28	193	observed
1982	23	219	observed
1983	19	247	observed
1984	21	230	observed
1985	27	193	observed
1986	16	286	observed
1987	11	383	observed
1988	7	508	observed
1989	16	300	observed
1990	14	331	observed
1991	13	334	observed
1992	8	456	observed
1993	9	407	observed
1994	14	297	observed
1995	8	438	observed
1996	10	367	observed
1997	6	489	observed
1998	7	455	observed
1999	6	485	observed
2000	9	385	observed
2001	6	473	observed
2002	no value	no value	not covered
2003	4	575	observed
2004	4	556	observed
2005	no value	no value	not covered
2006	no value	no value	not covered
2007	no value	no value	not covered
2008	no value	no value	not covered
2009	no value	no value	not covered
2010	no value	no value	not covered
2011	no value	no value	not covered
2012	4	561	observed
2013	no value	no value	not covered
2014	no value	no value	not covered
2015	no value	no value	not covered
2016	no value	no value	not covered
2017	no value	no value	not covered
2018	no value	no value	not covered
2019	no value	no value	not covered
2020	no value	no value	not covered
2021	no value	no value	not covered
2022	no value	no value	not covered
2023	no value	no value	not covered
2024	no value	no value	not covered
2025	no value	no value	not covered

About this dataset and its counting rules

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: Born persons for the individual girls' and boys' names published in SSB table 10467.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: SSB API: '.' means category not applicable; '..' means data not available. Null cells are not emitted and remain unknown, never zero.
Ranking: computed by NameStoria from published counts; ties share a rank, next rank skips

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

History

Historical scholarship

Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.

1884From the archives
Grethe— “pearl”
_Grethe_, _f._ _Ger._ Gr. pearl, 121
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Glossary of Christian Names · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Grethe Ingmann
1938–1990
Danish singer (1938–1990)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Grethe Kausland
1947–2007
Norwegian actor and singer (1947–2007)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Grethe Weiser
1903–1970
German actress (1903-1970)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Grethe Rask
1930–1977
Danish surgeon, one of the earliest non-Africans to die of AIDS
Wikipedia Wikidata source

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms8

Wikidata Q1546039CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Chinese Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: MargareteCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
German Wiktionary: GretheCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences2

Wikimedia Commons: File:De-Grethe.oggCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wikimedia Commons: File:LL-Q9027 (swe)-Moonhouse-Grethe.wavCC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Historical referencesOriginal texts and their publication details1

Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Glossary of Christian NamesPublic domain (Project Gutenberg) · rev. 2023-03-30 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates2

Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025
Statistics Norway (SSB) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

A story to pass on.

About Grethe

German origin

Where Grethe is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Norway

History

Historical scholarship

Notable bearers

Grethe Ingmann

Grethe Kausland

Grethe Weiser

Grethe Rask

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

Related names in the catalogue

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Grethe

German origin

Where Grethe is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Norway

History

Historical scholarship

Notable bearers

Grethe Ingmann

Grethe Kausland

Grethe Weiser

Grethe Rask

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

Related names in the catalogue

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page