Claim: The name Gretchen originates in the United States, and Germany, and is derived from a major character in Goethe's Faust,  a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Evidence: United States, Germany 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. Faust is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two.