Grahm
Of English origin, meaning a tilled or cultivated farmland.
Name Census estimates that about 671 living Americans carry the first name Grahm. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Grahm today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Grahm births was 2008 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Grahm. 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
671
~ 1 in 510,811 Americans
Peak year
2008
36 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,210
Tracked since 1976
Census
Grahm in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 706 people with the first name Grahm, which placed it at #16,084 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
#16,084
National first-name rank
People counted
706
706 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grahm
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grahm is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Grahm 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 Grahm at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 645
- Two or more races3.3% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 22
- Black or African American1.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
Popularity
Grahm: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Grahm from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 235 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Grahm 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 Grahm during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Grahms live
Origin
Meaning and history of Grahm
The name Grahm is derived from the Old English word "græg," which means "gray" or "grey." It is believed to have originated in medieval England during the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. The name was initially used as a surname, referring to someone with gray hair or a grayish complexion.
In the Middle Ages, the name Grahm was associated with the Graham clan in Scotland. This powerful family claimed descent from William de Graham, who was granted lands in Scotland by King David I in the 12th century. The Graham clan played a significant role in Scottish history, with members holding influential positions and participating in major events such as the Wars of Scottish Independence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Grahm as a given name can be found in the 14th century. Sir Grahm of Montrose, a Scottish knight, was mentioned in historical records from that time. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until much later.
In the 16th century, the Protestant reformer William Grahm, also known as William Grahame or William Graham, was a notable figure in Scotland. He was born around 1510 and played a crucial role in the Scottish Reformation.
Another prominent individual with the name Grahm was James Grahm, Marquess of Montrose (1612-1650). He was a Scottish nobleman and military leader who fought for King Charles I during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
In the 18th century, Grahm Wilmore (1772-1851) was a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. He participated in several notable battles and was later knighted for his distinguished service.
In the 19th century, Grahm Bell (1847-1922), the inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His full name was Alexander Graham Bell, and he is widely recognized as one of the most influential inventors in modern history.
While not as common as some other names, Grahm has maintained a presence throughout history, primarily in the English-speaking world. Its connection to the Graham clan and its use by notable figures in various fields have contributed to its enduring legacy.
People
Grahm + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Grahm as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Grahm: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Grahm?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 671 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Grahm 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 510,811 US residents.
Is Grahm a common name?
We classify Grahm as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 682 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Grahm most popular?
The single biggest year for Grahm was 2008, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Grahm is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Grahm in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 706 people with the name Grahm, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,084 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 Grahm 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 Grahm?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grahm appears almost entirely male. Of the 713 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Grahm?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grahm is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Grahm most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Grahm in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (645 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 Grahm in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Grahm a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Grahm 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 Grahm still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Grahm 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 Grahm 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 Grahm?
Want to know how many Americans are named Grahm? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.