Grantland
Land granted or owned by an English lord.
Name Census estimates that about 108 living Americans carry the first name Grantland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Grantland today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Grantland births was 2003 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Grantland. 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
108
~ 1 in 3,173,651 Americans
Peak year
2003
9 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2011 SSA rank
#11,318
Tracked since 1930
Census
Grantland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 217 people with the first name Grantland, which placed it at #36,520 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
#36,520
National first-name rank
People counted
217
217 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grantland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grantland is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Grantland 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 Grantland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 189
- Black or African American7.8% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Grantland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Grantland from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 44 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Grantland 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 Grantland 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 Grantland
Grantland is a unique given name with an intriguing history. It is an English name derived from the combination of two Old English words: "grand," meaning "great" or "large," and "land," referring to an area or territory. This name likely originated in the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century, when the Anglo-Saxon culture was prominent in Britain.
The earliest recorded use of the name Grantland can be traced back to the 13th century, appearing in historical records and documents from that era. One notable individual from that time was Grantland of Wessex, a prominent landowner and nobleman who lived during the reign of King Edward I in the late 13th century.
Over the centuries, the name Grantland has been associated with various notable figures. One of the most famous was Grantland Rice (1880-1954), an American sportswriter and novelist who was a pioneer in the field of sports journalism. His writings and contributions to sports literature earned him widespread recognition and a place in the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame.
Another notable Grantland was Grantland S. Rice (1920-1991), an American attorney and jurist who served as a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. His contributions to the legal profession and his judicial service left a lasting impact on the American legal system.
In the world of literature, Grantland Demps (1901-1980) was an African American writer and educator known for his works that explored the experiences of Black Americans in the 20th century. His novel "The Caged Hawk" was widely acclaimed and earned him recognition as a significant voice in American literature.
Grantland Cheavens (1901-1981) was a renowned American artist and illustrator who gained fame for his depictions of the American West and its landscapes. His paintings and illustrations captured the rugged beauty of the Western frontier and were highly sought after by collectors and art enthusiasts.
While the name Grantland may not be as common as some other names, its rich history and association with notable individuals across various fields have contributed to its enduring legacy and significance.
People
Grantland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Grantland 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
Grantland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Grantland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 108 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Grantland 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 3,173,651 US residents.
Is Grantland a common name?
We classify Grantland as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 119 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Grantland most popular?
The single biggest year for Grantland was 2003, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Grantland is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Grantland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 217 people with the name Grantland, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,520 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 Grantland 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 Grantland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Grantland appears almost entirely male. Of the 214 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Grantland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Grantland is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Grantland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Grantland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (189 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 Grantland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Grantland a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Grantland 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 Grantland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Grantland 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 Grantland 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 common is the name Grantland?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Grantland, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.