Gretchen comes from the Greek / Germanic tradition, meaning Pearl, precious gemstone.
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How popular is Gretchen?
1973peak year
Today, Gretchen is rarely chosen — ranked well outside the top 1,000 (around #2390), with only about 90 babies given the name per year. But it wasn't always this way. At its peak in 1973, 1,350 babies were given the name (ranked #191 nationally). Its strongest stretch was the 1970s. Gretchen has been declining in recent years. In all, around 53,806 babies have been registered as Gretchen since 1880.
Year-by-year registrations1880–2024 · U.S. Social Security data
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