Girls' name · peaked in 1973

Gretchen name popularity since 1925

50,450 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Gretchen. Half of them were born in 1970 or earlier, so the typical Gretchen is about 56 years old in 2026. Gretchen peaked in 1973 as the #191 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.

US babies since 1925: 50,450; Named Gretchen, 1925–2025
Peak year: 1973; #191 for girls that year
Typical age: About 56; Median birth year 1970
In 2025: Not top 1,000; #4,292 for girls in 2025
Girls / boys: 99.9% girls; 50,412 girls · 38 boys
Most popular in: Minnesota; 2.98× its national share

Peak year is the year Gretchen made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.

Gretchen births per year, 1925–2025

1973 was the biggest year for Gretchen both by count and as a share of all babies.

Fastest rise: Between 1929 and 1934, Gretchen became 2× more common.
Steepest fall: Between 1981 and 1986, its share of baby girls fell by 56%, from 1 in 1,860 to 1 in 4,240.

Shaded on the chart. Both compare Gretchen's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Gretchen.

Decade by decade

Babies named Gretchen in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).

Decade	Girls	Boys	Rank
1925–29	758	0	–
1930s	2,994	0	#364
1940s	5,192	0	#308
1950s	6,093	10	#366
1960s	9,745	0	#295
1970s	11,800	22	#209
1980s	5,668	6	#470
1990s	3,098	0	#724
2000s	3,067	0	#762
2010s	1,676	0	#1,429
2020–25	321	0	#4,292

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.

Generation fingerprint

34.8% of babies named Gretchen from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:

Where Gretchen is most popular

The index compares Gretchen's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Gretchen.

State	Index	Babies
Minnesota	2.98×	2,536
Wisconsin	1.99×	1,828
Oregon	1.82×	797
Ohio	1.78×	3,818
Washington	1.78×	1,391

Names with a similar story

Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Gretchen's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Gretchen.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Gretchen (1973).

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data