2000
#3,884
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,402
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.11
Rare Last name
Craddock
An English locational surname derived from a place name meaning "cottage by the cart track."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,252 Americans carry the last name Craddock. That puts it at #4,252 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 37,047 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Craddock 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 Craddock with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.3K
1 in 37,047
Census rank
#4,252
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,068 bearers of the surname Craddock in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4252nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Craddock, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Craddock
The surname Craddock has its origins in the English and Welsh borderlands during the medieval period. It is thought to have derived from the Old English word "cradoc", which means "he who gathers crabs or willow shoots". This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name may have been involved in harvesting these items or lived near areas where they grew abundantly.
One of the earliest recorded references to the surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Cradoc". This entry indicates that the name was already in use during the Norman conquest of England. Over the centuries, various spellings emerged, including Craddocke, Cradock, and Craddock.
In the 13th century, the name Craddock appeared in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire, where a person named William Craddock was listed as a landowner. This suggests that by this time, the name had become established among the gentry and landholding classes.
One notable bearer of the Craddock surname was Richard Craddock (c. 1538-1624), an English clergyman and theologian who served as the Bishop of Llandaff in Wales. Another was Samuel Craddock (1620-1695), an English nonconformist minister who was ejected from his living during the Great Ejection of 1662.
In the 17th century, the name Craddock was also found in Virginia, where Richard Craddock (c. 1635-1711) was a wealthy planter and landowner. His descendants continued to use the surname in the American colonies and later the United States.
Another noteworthy individual was Thomas Craddock (1718-1781), an English clergyman and author who wrote several works on religious subjects. In the 19th century, Sir John Craddock (1805-1881) was a British Army officer who served in the Crimean War and later became the Governor of Gibraltar.
Throughout its history, the surname Craddock has been associated with various places in England and Wales, such as the village of Craddock in Staffordshire and the town of Craddock in Worcestershire. These place names likely contributed to the spread and adoption of the surname in those regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Craddock
Among Census respondents with the surname Craddock, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Craddock 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 Craddock surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.3% · 5,910
- Black or African American19.0% · 1,529
- Two or more races4.1% · 329
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 220
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 35
Timeline
Historical Census data for Craddock
Craddock 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
#4,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,772
+370 bearers (+4.4%)
Per 100,000 2.97
Rank movement Down 165 places
2020
#4,252
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,068
-704 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 2.70
Rank movement Down 203 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,884 | 8,402 | 3.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,049 | 8,772 | 2.97 | +370 bearers (+4.4%) | Down 165 places |
| 2020 | #4,252 | 8,068 | 2.70 | -704 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 203 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 Craddock 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 | #4,049 | #4,252 | -5.0% |
| Count | 8,772 | 8,068 | -8.0% |
| Per 100K | 2.97 | 2.70 | -9.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Craddock bearers went from 8,772 to 8,068 (-8.0% change). The surname moved down 203 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,049 to #4,252.
FAQ
Craddock surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Craddock?
Name Census estimates that about 9,252 living Americans carry the surname Craddock. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 37,047 residents.
How common is Craddock?
Craddock ranks #4,252 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.70 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,068 people with the surname Craddock. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,252), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.70 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Craddock.
Has Craddock become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Craddock went from 8,772 recorded bearers to 8,068. That is a decrease of 704 (-8.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,049 to #4,252.
What does the Census say about the background of Craddock?
Among Census respondents with the surname Craddock, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.0%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Craddock in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (5,910 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Craddock appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (73.3%), Black (19.0%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Craddock (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 Craddock mean?
An English locational surname derived from a place name meaning "cottage by the cart track." 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 Craddock (2.70 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 are called Craddock?
See how many Americans have the surname Craddock on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.