Grace
A feminine name of Latin origin, meaning divine favor or blessing.
Roughly 299,398 people in the United States go by the first name Grace, which ranks #40 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Grace today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Grace births was 2003 (12,801 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Julia (298,017).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Grace. 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 Grace with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Grace is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,393 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
299K
~ 1 in 1,145 Americans
Peak year
2003
12,801 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#40
Tracked since 1880
Census
Grace in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 322,612 people with the first name Grace, which placed it at #160 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
#160
National first-name rank
People counted
323K
322,612 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
106.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grace
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grace is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.0%). 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 Grace 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 Grace at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.0% · 222,630
- Hispanic or Latino10.0% · 32,132
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.0% · 32,103
- Black or African American6.8% · 21,934
- Two or more races3.8% · 12,317
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1,496
Gender
Gender distribution for Grace
Out of the 531,126 babies given the name Grace since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Grace as a male name
- Ranked #10,208 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (40 births)
Grace as a female name
- Ranked #40 in 2024
- 5,002 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (12,781 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grace appears almost entirely female. Of the 322,614 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Grace: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Grace from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 110,900 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Grace 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 Grace during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 49 | 15,227 | 15,276 |
| 1890s | 105 | 23,804 | 23,909 |
| 1900s | 103 | 26,927 | 27,030 |
| 1910s | 162 | 57,973 | 58,135 |
| 1920s | 223 | 60,060 | 60,283 |
| 1930s | 154 | 31,357 | 31,511 |
| 1940s | 73 | 19,369 | 19,442 |
| 1950s | 53 | 15,929 | 15,982 |
| 1960s | 24 | 11,214 | 11,238 |
| 1970s | 0 | 6,099 | 6,099 |
| 1980s | 59 | 11,796 | 11,855 |
| 1990s | 53 | 39,872 | 39,925 |
| 2000s | 185 | 110,715 | 110,900 |
| 2010s | 109 | 73,033 | 73,142 |
| 2020s | 41 | 26,358 | 26,399 |
Geography
Where Graces live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Grace, while Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9,064 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Grace
The name Grace has its origins in the Latin word "gratia", meaning "favor" or "thanks". It was initially used as a virtue name, reflecting the concept of divine grace and the unmerited favor bestowed by God.
In ancient Rome, the name was associated with the Gratiae, the three goddesses of charm, beauty, and creativity in Roman mythology. They were often depicted as attendants to Venus, the goddess of love, and were revered for their ability to bestow grace and charm upon individuals.
The name Grace gained popularity during the Middle Ages as a Christian name, reflecting the theological concept of God's unmerited grace and favor towards humanity. It was often given to girls as a reminder of the importance of humility and gratitude for the divine blessings they received.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Grace can be found in the Bible, specifically in the New Testament. Grace is mentioned as a virtue and a gift from God, further solidifying its association with Christian beliefs and values.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Grace. One of the earliest and most famous was Grace O'Malley (c. 1530-1603), an Irish pirate queen known for her bravery and leadership skills. Another prominent figure was Grace Darling (1815-1842), a British heroine celebrated for her courage in rescuing survivors from a shipwreck off the coast of Northumberland.
In the world of literature, Grace Metalious (1924-1964) was an American author best known for her controversial novel "Peyton Place", which shed light on the darker aspects of small-town life in New England. Grace Kelly (1929-1982), an American actress and Princess of Monaco, was renowned for her elegance and style, and is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in Hollywood history.
Additionally, Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was a pioneering computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. She was instrumental in developing the first compiler for a computer programming language and is celebrated for her contributions to the field of computer science.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Grace, each leaving their mark in various fields and disciplines.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Grace
People
Grace + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Grace 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
Grace: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Grace?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 299,398 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Grace 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 1,145 US residents.
Is Grace a common name?
We classify Grace as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 531,126 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Grace most popular?
The single biggest year for Grace was 2003, when 12,801 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Grace is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Grace in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 322,612 people with the name Grace, or 106.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #160 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 Grace 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 Grace?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grace appears almost entirely female. Of the 322,614 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Grace?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grace is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.0%). 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 Grace most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Grace in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (222,630 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 Grace in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Grace a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Grace in the SSA data are female. 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 Grace still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Grace 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 Grace 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 are called Grace?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.