Grantham
From an Old English place name meaning "homestead on gravel land".
Name Census estimates that about 218 living Americans carry the first name Grantham. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Grantham today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Grantham births was 1995 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Grantham. 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.
People living today
218
~ 1 in 1,572,268 Americans
Peak year
1995
12 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,359
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Grantham: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Grantham from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 85 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
Grantham 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 Grantham during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Grantham
The name Grantham is of Old English origin, derived from the words "grante" meaning "gravel" and "ham" meaning "homestead" or "village". It is believed to have originated as a place name in the 7th or 8th century, referring to a settlement located on a gravel-rich area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Grantham can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The town of Grantham in Lincolnshire is mentioned in this historical document, indicating that the name was already in use as a place name by the late 11th century.
In the 12th century, the name Grantham appears in the Pipe Rolls, a series of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer. These records document individuals who were associated with the town of Grantham, suggesting that the name had also begun to be used as a surname during this period.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Grantham was Sir Thomas Grantham (c. 1300 - c. 1368), an English soldier and landowner who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He is mentioned in several contemporary chronicles and records from the 14th century.
Another notable figure was Isaac Grantham (c. 1615 - 1692), an English Puritan minister and writer who emigrated to America in the 17th century. He served as a minister in Boston and published several religious works, including "An Essay on the Recording of Illustrious Providences" in 1684.
In the 18th century, Sir Thomas Grantham (1738 - 1786) was a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He commanded several ships and was involved in several notable battles and engagements.
The 19th century saw the rise of Henry Grantham (1810 - 1871), a British architect and civil engineer who designed several notable buildings and structures in England, including the Euston Arch in London.
Finally, in the 20th century, Sir William Grantham (1899 - 1979) was a British diplomat and civil servant who served as the Governor of Hong Kong from 1947 to 1957, playing a significant role in the colony's post-war reconstruction and development.
People
Grantham + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Grantham 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
Grantham: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Grantham?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Grantham 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 1,572,268 US residents.
Is Grantham a common name?
We classify Grantham as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Grantham most popular?
The single biggest year for Grantham was 1995, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Grantham is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Grantham a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Grantham 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.
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.