Gretel
/ˈɡʁeːtl̩/feminine, neuter
The English name Maggie can be translated into German using several forms, with Gretel being the default. Wiktionary also lists Greta and Gretchen.
Meaning: female given name (name)
Ways to say it
| German | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gretel | /ˈɡʁeːtl̩/ | feminine, neuter |
| Greta | feminine | |
| Gretchen | /ˈɡreːtçən/ | neuter |
| Grete | feminine | |
| Meta | /ˈmeːta/ | feminine |
These terms are all used as female given names in German.
Which one should you use?
The different forms provided are variants of the name. Greta and Grete are feminine forms, while Gretchen is a neuter form. Gretel is listed as both feminine and neuter. Meta is a feminine form.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈɡʁeːtl̩/
Did you know?
- The name Gretchen uses the diminutive suffix -chen, which grammatically turns the name into a neuter noun. In German, this means you would refer to a girl named Gretchen using the pronoun 'it' rather than 'she'.
- Many of these names, like Gretel, are part of a family of names derived from 'Margareta', which originally comes from the Greek word for 'pearl'.
- The name Meta is actually a shortened form of 'Dorothea', following a German tradition of creating new names from fragments of older ones.
Example sentences for German are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Hannah and Julian are talking about a mutual friend.
- HannahHast du Gretel schon gesehen?Have you seen Gretel already?
- JulianNein, wo ist sie gerade?No, where is she right now?
- HannahGretel wartet wahrscheinlich draußen auf uns.Gretel is probably waiting outside for us.
- JulianDann gehen wir schnell nach draußen.Then let's go outside quickly.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “maggie” translations and entries Gretel, Gretchen, Grete, Meta, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
