Creig
Scottish form of Craig, meaning rock or rocky hill.
Name Census estimates that about 312 living Americans carry the first name Creig. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Creig today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Creig births was 1961 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Creig. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
312
~ 1 in 1,098,572 Americans
Peak year
1961
18 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1996 SSA rank
#9,273
Tracked since 1942
Census
Creig in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 388 people with the first name Creig, which placed it at #24,718 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,718
National first-name rank
People counted
388
388 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Creig
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Creig is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (21.4%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Creig described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Creig at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.1% · 272
- Black or African American21.4% · 83
- Two or more races3.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Popularity
Creig: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Creig from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 116 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Creig by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Creig during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Creig
The given name Creig has its roots in the Gaelic language, tracing back to the Celtic tribes of ancient Britain and Ireland. It is derived from the Old Irish word "creag," which means "rock" or "crag." This name was likely bestowed upon individuals who lived near rocky terrains or displayed a strong, steadfast character reminiscent of a sturdy rock formation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Creig can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle detailing events in medieval Ireland. In this text, a warrior named Creig mac Lochlainn is mentioned as having participated in battles against Viking invaders in the 9th century AD.
In the 12th century, a Scottish nobleman named Creig de Strathearn was a prominent figure in the court of King David I of Scotland. He is recorded as having played a crucial role in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Falaise in 1174, which established peace between Scotland and England.
During the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a valiant soldier named Creig Douglas fought alongside William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. His bravery in battles against the English earned him recognition in the epic poem "The Brus," written by John Barbour in the 14th century.
In the 16th century, an Irish poet and historian named Creig Ó Ceallaigh gained renown for his works chronicling the history of the O'Kelly clan. His poetry and writings shed light on the rich cultural heritage of Gaelic Ireland during a turbulent period.
In more recent history, Creig Neville was a British army officer who served with distinction during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. He was awarded the prestigious Order of the Bath for his valor in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
While the name Creig may not have been as widely popular as some other names, it has a rich history rooted in the Celtic cultures of Britain and Ireland. Its connection to the natural world and associations with strength and resilience have made it a name worthy of recognition throughout the ages.
People
Creig + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Creig as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Creig: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Creig?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 312 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Creig going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,098,572 US residents.
Is Creig a common name?
We classify Creig as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 381 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Creig most popular?
The single biggest year for Creig was 1961, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Creig is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Creig in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 388 people with the name Creig, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,718 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Creig in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Creig?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Creig leans strongly male. 392 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Creig?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Creig is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (21.4%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Creig most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Creig in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.1% (272 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Creig in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Creig a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Creig in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Creig still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Creig in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Creig can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Creig?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.