Grete Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Grete last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Grete last name
Meaning of the Grete last name: the great or large person. The surname Grete is another way of writing Greet, an English family name. Smith gives the meaning as the great or large person. Roughly 259 people bear the surname Grete; Germany, the United States and Brazil are among their homes.
Arms associated with the Grete name
Sharing a surname establishes no coat of arms entitlement; heraldry follows documented individual lineages.
Smith lists Grete as a variant of Greet.
Get your full Grete family history
This is only a glimpse of the Grete story. The full Grete history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Grete coat of arms. Get the full Grete report.
Grete name FAQ
What does the Grete name mean?
The great or large person. Common variants include Greet.
Where does the Grete surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in Germany and the United States.
Is there a Grete coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Grete coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Elsdon C. Smith, Dictionary of American Family Names (1956), individual surname entries; modern indexed dictionary entries supersede conflicting interpretations.; Forebears, Surnam.es and individual surname distribution references.