Griffin
A masculine name with origins in Greek mythology, representing a mythical beast.
Name Census estimates that about 48,732 living Americans carry the first name Griffin. It sits at #223 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Griffin today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Griffin births was 2023 (1,748 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Griffin. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Griffin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Griffin is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 737 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Griffin is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
49K
~ 1 in 7,033 Americans
Peak year
2023
1,748 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#223
Tracked since 1881
Census
Griffin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 40,387 people with the first name Griffin, which placed it at #1,037 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
#1,037
National first-name rank
People counted
40K
40,387 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
13.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Griffin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Griffin is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Griffin 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 Griffin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.8% · 35,867
- Two or more races4.7% · 1,915
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 1,538
- Black or African American1.4% · 548
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 405
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 114
Gender
Gender distribution for Griffin
Griffin leans heavily male at 98.5% of total registrations, but 737 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Griffin as a male name
- Ranked #223 in 2024
- 1,609 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (1,726 births)
Griffin as a female name
- Ranked #6,223 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (37 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Griffin leans strongly male. 39,688 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 697 female bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Griffin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Griffin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 16,257 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Griffin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Griffin 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 Griffin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Griffins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Ohio, Illinois recorded the most babies named Griffin, while Wyoming, Alaska, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 916 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Griffin
The given name Griffin has its origins in the medieval era, tracing back to the Old English word "griff" or "gryff," which referred to a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. This mythical beast was known as a griffin or gryphon.
The name Griffin likely emerged as a surname during the Middle Ages, derived from the Old English words "griff" and "gryfon." It was commonly used to denote someone who lived near a place inhabited by griffins or someone who had a distinctive, griffin-like appearance or personality traits.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Griffin can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript survey of England commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror. The document mentions a landowner named Griffin, suggesting the name's usage in the late 11th century.
In Greek mythology, the griffin was considered a powerful and majestic creature, often associated with guarding treasures and precious items. This symbolism may have contributed to the name's popularity among noble families who sought to convey strength, bravery, and guardianship.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Griffin. One of the earliest was Griffin ap Rees (c. 1165-1201), a Welsh prince and Lord of Senghenydd, who played a significant role in the conflicts between the Welsh and the Normans in the late 12th century.
Another prominent figure with the name was Griffin Higgs (c. 1589-1659), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Dean of Lichfield and the President of Trinity College, Oxford, during the turbulent years of the English Civil War.
In the realm of literature, Griffin Faure (1798-1875) was a French poet and dramatist known for his contributions to the Romantic movement. His works, including the play "La Calédonie," explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
In more recent history, Griffin Bell (1918-2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 72nd United States Attorney General under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1979.
Additionally, Griffin Dunne (born 1955) is an American actor, director, and producer who has appeared in numerous films, including "After Hours" and "An American Werewolf in London," and has directed acclaimed works such as "Practical Magic" and episodes of popular TV series like "Fargo."
While the name Griffin has its roots in mythology and medieval England, it has endured through the centuries and has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, from royalty and clergy to artists and politicians, reflecting the enduring appeal of its symbolic associations with strength, guardianship, and mythical lore.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Griffin
People
Griffin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Griffin 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
Griffin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Griffin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 48,732 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Griffin 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 7,033 US residents.
Is Griffin a common name?
We classify Griffin as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 50,148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Griffin most popular?
The single biggest year for Griffin was 2023, when 1,748 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Griffin is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Griffin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 40,387 people with the name Griffin, or 13.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,037 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 Griffin 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 Griffin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Griffin leans strongly male. 39,688 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 697 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Griffin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Griffin is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Griffin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Griffin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (35,867 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 Griffin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Griffin a male name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Griffin 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 Griffin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Griffin 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 Griffin 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 Griffin?
You can see how many people have the name Griffin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.