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.
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 Greta is most popular
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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Lubusz6 girls born+231%
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Pomeranian11 girls born+104%
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Greater Poland16 girls born+103%
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Masovian24 girls born+85%
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Podlaskie4 girls born+66%
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Silesian8 girls born−4%
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Subcarpathian4 girls born−9%
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Lesser Poland6 girls born−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
654Wanessa
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290
652Mary
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291637Greta
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292
631Celestyna
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293
631Sława
When Greta celebrates name day
Greta appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 12 January.