Greta
From Germanic roots, it means "pearl". The name barely sits inside Poland's top thousand, rare enough that most Poles have never met one, though more girls got it last year than the year before.
Greta Pronunciation
Greta is pronounced GRE-tah (/ˈgrɛta/).
What Greta means
Where Greta comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Greta came into use as a short form of Margareta, the German version of the name Poland writes as Małgorzata. Follow it back and you reach a Greek word for pearl, which is why perła sits under every variant, from the formal Margaret to the homely Gosia. The clipped shape is Germanic in habit, quick to say and easy to keep.
One documented bearer is Greta Garbo, born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson in Stockholm in 1905, who made the short form famous well beyond German borders. A century later the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg carried the same four letters into headlines. The meaning stayed put. Pearl, whatever the century.
In a Polish class register the name might sit as Małgorzata, with Greta or Małgosia written in for daily use. The pearl is still there, under the German spelling.
When Greta celebrates name day
Greta appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 12 January.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
How many people are named Greta
1 in 14304 women in Poland is named Greta. 1,576 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #782 among female names.
Greta's popularity over time
18 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #534 among newborns. It has been stable for a decade.
Where parents choose Greta
Greta is most popular in Lubusz, 231% above the national average (6 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+104%) and Greater Poland (+103%). It is least common in Lesser Poland and Subcarpathian, 28% and 9% below average respectively.
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Lubusz
+231%1 in 8,276 babies
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Pomeranian
+104%1 in 13,393 babies
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Greater Poland
+103%1 in 13,453 babies
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Lesser Poland
−28%1 in 37,819 babies
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Subcarpathian
−9%1 in 30,141 babies
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Silesian
−4%1 in 28,448 babies
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Lubusz+231% 6 born1 in 8,276 babies+231%
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Pomeranian+104% 11 born1 in 13,393 babies+104%
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Greater Poland+103% 16 born1 in 13,453 babies+103%
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Masovian+85% 24 born1 in 14,761 babies+85%
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Podlaskie+66% 4 born1 in 16,447 babies+66%
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Silesian−4% 8 born1 in 28,448 babies−4%
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Subcarpathian−9% 4 born1 in 30,141 babies−9%
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Lesser Poland−28% 6 born1 in 37,819 babies−28%
Greta as a middle name
Greta is a first name for 1,576 women in Poland and a middle name for another 637, a 71/29 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 291st, between Mary (652) and Celestyna (631).
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#289 Wanessa654
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#290 Mary652
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#291 Greta637
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#292 Celestyna631
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#293 Sława631