2000
#192
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 134,034
First available Census row
Per 100,000 49.69
Common Last name
Grant
An English and Scottish surname derived from the Old French grand, meaning "tall" or "large."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 160,383 Americans carry the last name Grant. That puts it at #196 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 46.79 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,137 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Grant surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Grant with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
160K
1 in 2,137
Census rank
#196
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
46.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
140K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 139,862 bearers of the surname Grant in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 46.79 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 196th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Grant, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (37.3%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Grant
The surname GRANT originated in the early medieval era in Normandy, France. It is derived from the Old French word "grant" meaning "big" or "large". The name likely referred to someone of tall stature or physical size.
The name first appeared in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066 when William the Conqueror rewarded his Norman noblemen with lands across England. Some of these Normans adopted locational surnames based on the new territories they governed, such as Richard de Grant who was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as holding lands in Essex.
Early variants of the spelling included Graunt, Grande, and Grante. The surname spread across Britain in the following centuries, with branches establishing in Scotland and Ireland too. Sir Francis Grant (c.1270-1334) was a Scottish knight who served under King Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the mid-15th century, John Grant (c.1433-1505) founded the clan Grant and built their seat at Freuchie Castle in Inverness-shire, Scotland. A prominent member was Sir Duncan Grant (1585-1638), a Scottish military leader who fought for Sweden during the Thirty Years' War in Europe.
Other notable bearers include Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the American Civil War general who later served as the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. Cary Grant (1904-1986) was a famous Hollywood actor originally named Archibald Leach who took "Grant" as his stage name. Economist Milton Grant (1914-1998) co-founded the Milton Friedman Institute for economic research.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grant
Among Census respondents with the surname Grant, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (37.3%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Grant bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Grant surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.7% · 73,645
- Black or African American37.3% · 52,147
- Two or more races4.5% · 6,289
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 5,367
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1,453
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 961
Timeline
Historical Census data for Grant
Grant appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#196
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 142,277
+8,243 bearers (+6.1%)
Per 100,000 48.23
Rank movement Down 4 places
2020
#196
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 139,862
-2,415 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 46.79
Rank movement No rank change
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #192 | 134,034 | 49.69 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #196 | 142,277 | 48.23 | +8,243 bearers (+6.1%) | Down 4 places |
| 2020 | #196 | 139,862 | 46.79 | -2,415 bearers (-1.7%) | No rank change |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Grant surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #196 | #196 | 0.0% |
| Count | 142,277 | 139,862 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 48.23 | 46.79 | -3.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Grant bearers went from 142,277 to 139,862 (-1.7% change). The surname held its position in the national ranking, remaining at #196.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Grant
FAQ
Grant surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Grant?
Name Census estimates that about 160,383 living Americans carry the surname Grant. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,137 residents.
How common is Grant?
Grant ranks #196 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 46.79 per 100,000 residents, which is about 47 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 139,862 people with the surname Grant. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (160,383), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 46.79 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 46.79 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 47 of them to have the surname Grant.
Has Grant become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Grant went from 142,277 recorded bearers to 139,862. That is a decrease of 2,415 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it stayed at #196.
What does the Census say about the background of Grant?
Among Census respondents with the surname Grant, the largest self-reported group is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (37.3%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Grant in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.7% (73,645 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Grant appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (52.7%), Black (37.3%), Two or More Races (4.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Grant (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Grant mean?
An English and Scottish surname derived from the Old French grand, meaning "tall" or "large." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Grant (46.79 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Grant?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.