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I prefer Gretchen. I don't have such a strong image attached to it like I do with Heidi, and IMO does not sound as harsh. Heidi brings to mind a very strong personality, a dominant or domineering person - a smart and reliable one, a leader, a heroine, a matron. Probably that's influenced by a blonde, athletic, extroverted Heidi I once knew. I have trouble picturing a Heidi ever being sensitive or delicate - it seems too charactery, not versatile enough. Gretchen is just a modest and plain name that could be any girl or woman, to me, and it sounds softer (I think of it as gret-shen, not gretch-en).

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Heidi's sisters are Beth and Jean and Amy, Gretchen's are Bridget and Rachel and Marion.

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- mirfak