Macrae
Son of grace, of Scottish Gaelic origin.
Name Census estimates that about 163 living Americans carry the first name Macrae. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Macrae today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Macrae births was 2021 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Macrae. 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
163
~ 1 in 2,102,787 Americans
Peak year
2021
13 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,448
Tracked since 1997
Census
Macrae in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 225 people with the first name Macrae, which placed it at #35,641 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
#35,641
National first-name rank
People counted
225
225 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 Macrae
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Macrae is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Macrae 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 Macrae at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 196
- Two or more races4.9% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 10
- Black or African American3.6% · 8
Popularity
Macrae: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Macrae from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 64 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Macrae remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Macrae 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 Macrae 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 Macrae
The name Macrae is derived from the Scottish Gaelic "MacRath," which means "son of grace" or "son of prosperity." This name has its roots in the ancient Celtic culture, particularly in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th century.
The name Macrae is closely associated with the Clan Macrae, a Highland Scottish clan that traces its ancestry to the region of Kintail in the modern-day Highland Council Area of Scotland. The clan's progenitor is believed to be Fionnlagh MacRath, who lived in the 13th century and was a descendant of the ancient Celtic kings of Ireland.
In Scottish history, the Clan Macrae played a significant role in various conflicts and battles, including the Wars of Scottish Independence against the English in the 13th and 14th centuries. One notable figure was Christopher Macrae, also known as Gillecriost Mac Fhionnlaidh, who fought alongside Robert the Bruce in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
The name Macrae has also been associated with several prominent individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Finlay Macrae, a Scottish poet and bard who lived in the 16th century and was known for his poetic works in Gaelic.
Another notable figure was John Macrae (1753-1835), a Scottish writer and minister who served as the minister of the parish of Knockbain in Ross-shire. He was renowned for his literary works, including "A View of the Church of God from the Creation to the Present Times," published in 1796.
In the 19th century, Archibald Macrae (1799-1876) was a Scottish-born Canadian pioneer and fur trader who played a significant role in the exploration and settlement of Western Canada. He worked for the Hudson's Bay Company and established several trading posts in the region.
More recently, Alexander Macrae (1919-2007) was a Scottish artist and sculptor known for his abstract works and his contributions to the modern art movement in Scotland. His sculptures can be found in various public spaces and galleries across the country.
The name Macrae has also been carried by several notable authors and writers, including John Macrae (1876-1941), a Scottish-born Canadian journalist and author who wrote extensively about the Canadian Northwest and its indigenous peoples.
People
Macrae + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Macrae as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Macrae: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Macrae?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 163 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Macrae 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 2,102,787 US residents.
Is Macrae a common name?
We classify Macrae as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 165 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Macrae most popular?
The single biggest year for Macrae was 2021, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Macrae is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Macrae in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 225 people with the name Macrae, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,641 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 Macrae 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 Macrae?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Macrae on both sides of the split. Of the 226 people counted with this name, 171 were male (75.7%) and 55 were female (24.3%). 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 Macrae?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Macrae is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Macrae most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Macrae in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (196 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 Macrae in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Macrae a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Macrae 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 Macrae still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Macrae 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 Macrae 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 have Macrae as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Macrae, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.