2000
#1,536
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,540
First available Census row
Per 100,000 7.98
Uncommon Last name
Bragg
An English toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a crag, steep rock, or hill.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 23,994 Americans carry the last name Bragg. That puts it at #1,683 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.00 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 14,285 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bragg surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Bragg with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
24K
1 in 14,285
Census rank
#1,683
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
21K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 20,924 bearers of the surname Bragg in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.00 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1683rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bragg, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bragg
The surname Bragg has its origins in England and is believed to have derived from the Old English word 'bræc', which means a brack or bracken fern. This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a nickname to someone who lived near an area abundant with bracken.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bragg can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1202, where a Richard Bragge is mentioned. The Pipe Rolls were a series of ancient financial records maintained by the English Exchequer.
In the 13th century, the surname appeared in various forms, such as Bragge, Bragges, and Brages, as spellings were not standardized at that time. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, a census-like record of landowners and householders, lists several individuals with the name Bragg living in counties like Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
The name Bragg may also have derived from a place name, as there are several locations in England with names similar to Bragg, such as Bragbury in Shropshire and Braggington in Derbyshire. These place names could have influenced the surname's development.
One notable figure with the surname Bragg was Sir William Bragg (1862-1942), a renowned British physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 with his son, William Lawrence Bragg (1890-1971), for their pioneering work in X-ray crystallography.
Another prominent individual was Edward S. Bragg (1827-1912), a British-American writer and philosopher who authored works on religion and spirituality, including "The Spirit Worker" and "The Occult Universe."
In the United States, Braxton Bragg (1817-1876) was a notable figure during the American Civil War, serving as a general in the Confederate Army and commanding forces in several significant battles.
John Bragg (1768-1828), an American merchant and politician, was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania in the early 19th century.
Lastly, Loni Bragg (born 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA and was a member of the United States women's basketball team that won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bragg
Among Census respondents with the surname Bragg, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Bragg bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Bragg surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.5% · 16,220
- Black or African American14.1% · 2,947
- Two or more races4.3% · 893
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 660
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 110
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 94
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bragg
Bragg appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,643
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,934
+394 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 7.44
Rank movement Down 107 places
2020
#1,683
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 20,924
-1,010 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 7.00
Rank movement Down 40 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,536 | 21,540 | 7.98 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,643 | 21,934 | 7.44 | +394 bearers (+1.8%) | Down 107 places |
| 2020 | #1,683 | 20,924 | 7.00 | -1,010 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 40 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Bragg surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,643 | #1,683 | -2.4% |
| Count | 21,934 | 20,924 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 7.44 | 7.00 | -5.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bragg bearers went from 21,934 to 20,924 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 40 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,643 to #1,683.
FAQ
Bragg surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bragg?
Name Census estimates that about 23,994 living Americans carry the surname Bragg. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 14,285 residents.
How common is Bragg?
Bragg ranks #1,683 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.00 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 20,924 people with the surname Bragg. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (23,994), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.00 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Bragg.
Has Bragg become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bragg went from 21,934 recorded bearers to 20,924. That is a decrease of 1,010 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,643 to #1,683.
What does the Census say about the background of Bragg?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bragg, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Bragg in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.5% (16,220 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bragg appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (77.5%), Black (14.1%), Two or More Races (4.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Bragg (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Bragg mean?
An English toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a crag, steep rock, or hill. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Bragg (7.00 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Bragg?
Want to know how many people have the surname Bragg? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.