2000
#114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 190,636
First available Census row
Per 100,000 70.67
Common Last name
Griffin
An English and Welsh surname derived from the mythological creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 219,174 Americans carry the last name Griffin. That puts it at #126 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 63.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,564 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Griffin 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 Griffin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
219K
1 in 1,564
Census rank
#126
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
63.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
191K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 191,130 bearers of the surname Griffin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 63.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 126th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Griffin, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Griffin
The surname Griffin originated in England and Wales during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "griffon," which itself comes from the Latin "gryphus" and Ancient Greek "gryps," meaning a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. The name likely referred to someone who bore the griffin as a heraldic symbol or who may have had a fierce or valiant disposition.
The earliest recorded instances of the Griffin surname date back to the late 12th century. One of the earliest known bearers was William Griffin, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1195. The surname is also found in the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire from 1273, where a Richard le Griffon is listed.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, a precursor to the Griffin surname can be found in the form of the Old English personal name "Grif," which appears in various locations across England. This suggests that the name may have originated from a nickname or descriptive term before evolving into a hereditary surname.
The Griffin surname is closely associated with several notable historical figures. One of the most famous was Leoline Griffin (c. 1615-1690), a Welsh politician and military leader who served as a Member of Parliament and played a significant role in the English Civil War. Another prominent individual was Edward Dorr Griffin (1770-1837), an American Presbyterian minister and theologian who served as the president of Williams College.
Other notable bearers of the Griffin surname include:
1. Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937), an American architect who designed the planned city of Canberra, Australia.
2. John Griffin (c. 1719-1793), an American Baptist minister and author who was a pioneer of religious freedom in America.
3. Gerald Griffin (1803-1840), an Irish novelist, poet, and playwright known for works such as "The Collegians" and "The Invasion."
4. John Joseph Griffin (1859-1927), an Irish-American prelate who served as the Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Griffin surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Griffin in Staffordshire, England, and Griffintown, a neighborhood in Montreal, Canada, which was named after the prominent Irish-American Griffin family who settled there in the early 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Griffin
Among Census respondents with the surname Griffin, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Griffin 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 Griffin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 117,154
- Black or African American29.9% · 57,237
- Two or more races4.5% · 8,617
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 6,104
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1,147
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 871
Timeline
Historical Census data for Griffin
Griffin 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
#122
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 198,406
+7,770 bearers (+4.1%)
Per 100,000 67.26
Rank movement Down 8 places
2020
#126
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 191,130
-7,276 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 63.94
Rank movement Down 4 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #114 | 190,636 | 70.67 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #122 | 198,406 | 67.26 | +7,770 bearers (+4.1%) | Down 8 places |
| 2020 | #126 | 191,130 | 63.94 | -7,276 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 4 places |
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 Griffin 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 | #122 | #126 | -3.3% |
| Count | 198,406 | 191,130 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 67.26 | 63.94 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Griffin bearers went from 198,406 to 191,130 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 4 positions in the national ranking, going from #122 to #126.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Griffin
FAQ
Griffin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Griffin?
Name Census estimates that about 219,174 living Americans carry the surname Griffin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,564 residents.
How common is Griffin?
Griffin ranks #126 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 63.94 per 100,000 residents, which is about 64 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 191,130 people with the surname Griffin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (219,174), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 63.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 63.94 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 64 of them to have the surname Griffin.
Has Griffin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Griffin went from 198,406 recorded bearers to 191,130. That is a decrease of 7,276 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #122 to #126.
What does the Census say about the background of Griffin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Griffin, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) 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 Griffin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (117,154 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Griffin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (61.3%), Black (29.9%), 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 Griffin (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 Griffin mean?
An English and Welsh surname derived from the mythological creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle. 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 Griffin (63.94 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 are called Griffin?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Griffin at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.