Recorded 1915–2025 · United States
Gretel was most popular in 2022, when 68 American babies were given the name — ranking #4,591 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,745, with 48 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 1,514 people named Gretel.
Gretel first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1915, which makes it about 110 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 94 of the 111 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 1,514 American births named Gretel 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 1,373 are estimated to be alive today.
48 American babies were named Gretel in 2025, ranking #5,745 that year.
Gretel is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 53 births a year, against 44 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +21% 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 Gretel is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 1,514 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 1,373 Americans named Gretel are alive today — 91% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 15 years old, and half are between 7 and 38. 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 Gretel on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org