| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | German |
| Origin | |
| Region of origin | Germany |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Greta, Grete, Margaret, Margarete |
| Derived | A major character in Goethe's Faust |
Gretchen (German: [ˈɡʁeːtçən] , English: /ˈɡrɛtʃən/ GRETCH-ən; literal translation: "Little Grete" or "Little Greta") is a female given name of German origin that, stand-alone, is most prevalent in the United States.
Its popularity increased because a major character in Goethe's Faust (1808) has this name. In German, the Gretchenfrage ("question by Gretchen"), derived from Faust, is an idiom for a direct question that aims at the core of a problem and that should reveal the intentions and mindset of the questioned. The question is usually inconvenient to the questioned since he or she shall confess to something crucial he or she was intentionally or unintentionally vague about before.
In German-speaking countries, Gretchen is not frequent as a stand-alone given name, but as a colloquial diminutive or pet name of Grete (Greta), which itself is a short form of Margarete (Margaret).[1]