Recorded 1885–2025 · United States
Greta was most popular in 1967, when 534 American babies were given the name — ranking #705 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,731, with 291 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 27,791 people named Greta.
Greta first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1885, which makes it about 140 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 141 of the 141 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 27,791 American births named Greta between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 21,632 are estimated to be alive today.
291 American babies were named Greta in 2025, ranking #1,731 that year.
Greta is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 310 births a year, against 472 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -34% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Greta is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 27,791 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 21,632 Americans named Greta are alive today — 78% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 29 years old, and half are between 14 and 59. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Greta on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org