Grant
From Old English, meaning "tall" or "great".
Name Census estimates that about 118,401 living Americans carry the first name Grant. It sits at #241 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Grant today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Grant births was 1997 (3,315 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Grant. 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 Grant with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Grant is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 207 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
118K
~ 1 in 2,895 Americans
Peak year
1997
3,315 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#241
Tracked since 1880
Census
Grant in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 109,202 people with the first name Grant, which placed it at #520 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
#520
National first-name rank
People counted
109K
109,202 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
36.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grant
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grant is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Grant 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 Grant at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 95,092
- Two or more races4.1% · 4,475
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 3,653
- Black or African American3.0% · 3,300
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 2,155
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 527
Gender
Gender distribution for Grant
Out of the 135,103 babies given the name Grant since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Grant as a male name
- Ranked #241 in 2024
- 1,453 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (3,315 births)
Grant as a female name
- Ranked #16,380 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 1986 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grant appears almost entirely male. Of the 109,200 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Grant: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Grant 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 28,451 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
Grant 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 Grant during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Grants live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Grant, while Vermont, Rhode Island, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,544 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Grant
The name Grant has its origins in the Old French and Anglo-Norman French word "grant", meaning "great" or "grand". It can be traced back to the 12th century and was initially used as a descriptive surname or nickname for someone of great stature or importance.
During the Middle Ages, the name gained popularity in England and Scotland, where it was often associated with landowners or those who were granted lands or titles by the monarch. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions several individuals with the surname Grant.
The name Grant has a connection to the Latin word "grandis", meaning "large" or "great". This linguistic link suggests that the name may have been used to describe someone of great physical size or stature in ancient times.
In the realm of historical figures, one notable individual with the name Grant was Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the 18th President of the United States. He was a prominent military leader during the American Civil War and played a pivotal role in the Union victory.
Another famous bearer of the name was Cary Grant (1904-1986), the celebrated English-American actor known for his iconic performances in numerous Hollywood classics. His suave and debonair screen presence earned him a lasting legacy in the world of cinema.
In literature, Grant Naylor was the collective pseudonym used by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, the writers and creators of the iconic British sci-fi comedy series "Red Dwarf". Their collaboration brought forth a beloved and enduring sci-fi franchise.
In the world of sports, Grant Hill (born 1972) was a highly accomplished basketball player who had a successful career in the NBA, playing for teams like the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and won multiple championships.
Lastly, Grant Wood (1891-1942) was a renowned American painter best known for his iconic work "American Gothic", which has become a quintessential representation of rural American life and a staple of American art history.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Grant, illustrating its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Grant
People
Grant + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Grant 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
Grant: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Grant?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 118,401 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Grant 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 2,895 US residents.
Is Grant a common name?
We classify Grant as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135,103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Grant most popular?
The single biggest year for Grant was 1997, when 3,315 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Grant is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Grant in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 109,202 people with the name Grant, or 36.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #520 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 Grant 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 Grant?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grant appears almost entirely male. Of the 109,200 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Grant?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grant is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Grant most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Grant in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (95,092 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 Grant in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Grant a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Grant 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 Grant still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Grant 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 Grant 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 Grant?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.