2000
#387
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 74,285
First available Census row
Per 100,000 27.54
Uncommon Last name
Gross
An occupational surname referring to someone of large stature or a head of a household.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 81,248 Americans carry the last name Gross. That puts it at #455 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 23.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 4,219 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gross 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 Gross with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
81K
1 in 4,219
Census rank
#455
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
23.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
71K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 70,852 bearers of the surname Gross in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 23.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 455th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gross, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gross
The surname Gross has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the Middle Ages. Derived from the German word 'gross', meaning 'large' or 'great', the name was likely originally a nickname or descriptive name given to someone of considerable stature or size.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gross can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the 13th century. Here, a certain Rudiger Gross is mentioned as a resident of the town of Nuremberg in 1274.
The name Gross also appears in various medieval records and manuscripts from across German-speaking regions. For example, in the Annales Xantenses, a chronicle from the 14th century, a knight named Konrad Gross is mentioned as participating in a battle near the town of Xanten in 1348.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Gross became increasingly common throughout Germany and neighboring areas. Notable individuals with the name during this period include the theologian and reformer Johannes Gross (1504-1584), who played a key role in the Protestant Reformation.
As German immigrants began to settle in other parts of Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, the surname Gross spread to new regions. One prominent figure from this time was the German-American businessman and philanthropist Jacob Gross (1765-1839), who founded the city of Grossdale, Pennsylvania.
Other notable individuals with the surname Gross throughout history include the French painter René Gross (1910-1984), known for his landscapes and still-life paintings, and the British philosopher and logician Herbert Gross (1893-1979), who made significant contributions to the field of analytic philosophy.
More recently, the surname Gross has been carried by individuals such as the American writer and academic David Gross (born 1941), who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004, and the German-American film director Katharina Gross (born 1965), whose work often explores themes of identity and cultural heritage.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gross
Among Census respondents with the surname Gross, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Gross 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 Gross surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.5% · 58,451
- Black or African American10.0% · 7,090
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 2,384
- Two or more races3.1% · 2,220
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 447
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 260
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gross
Gross 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
#440
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 74,503
+218 bearers (+0.3%)
Per 100,000 25.26
Rank movement Down 53 places
2020
#455
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 70,852
-3,651 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 23.70
Rank movement Down 15 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #387 | 74,285 | 27.54 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #440 | 74,503 | 25.26 | +218 bearers (+0.3%) | Down 53 places |
| 2020 | #455 | 70,852 | 23.70 | -3,651 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 15 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 Gross 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 | #440 | #455 | -3.4% |
| Count | 74,503 | 70,852 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 25.26 | 23.70 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gross bearers went from 74,503 to 70,852 (-4.9% change). The surname moved down 15 positions in the national ranking, going from #440 to #455.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Gross
FAQ
Gross surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gross?
Name Census estimates that about 81,248 living Americans carry the surname Gross. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 4,219 residents.
How common is Gross?
Gross ranks #455 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 23.70 per 100,000 residents, which is about 24 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 70,852 people with the surname Gross. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (81,248), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 23.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 23.70 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 24 of them to have the surname Gross.
Has Gross become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gross went from 74,503 recorded bearers to 70,852. That is a decrease of 3,651 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #440 to #455.
What does the Census say about the background of Gross?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gross, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Gross in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.5% (58,451 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gross appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.5%), Black (10.0%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Gross (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 Gross mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone of large stature or a head of a household. 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 Gross (23.70 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 Americans have the surname Gross?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.