Find out how popular the last name Craighead is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Craighead.

Craighead, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Craighead surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Craighead in America

Craighead is the 11256th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Craighead surname appeared 2,809 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Craighead.

We can also compare 2010 data for Craighead to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Craighead

The surname Craighead has its origins in Scotland, dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "creag" meaning rock or hill, and "ceann" meaning head or end, referring to a prominent hill or rocky outcrop.

This surname is closely associated with the Craighead area near Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The earliest recorded instances of this name can be found in charters and records from the 12th and 13th centuries, often spelled as "Cragehede" or "Craghed".

One of the earliest known individuals with this surname was Robert de Craighead, who was mentioned in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historical record of Scottish landowners who swore fealty to King Edward I of England.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Craigheads were prominent landowners in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire. In 1625, John Craighead of Craighead was appointed as a Commissioner of Supply for Renfrewshire, responsible for collecting taxes and maintaining local militia.

In the late 17th century, several members of the Craighead family emigrated to Ireland, where the name became established in counties such as Antrim and Down. Notably, Thomas Craighead (1667-1739) was a Presbyterian minister who played a significant role in the revival of religious fervor in Ulster.

As the Craighead family spread across the British Isles and beyond, variations in spelling emerged, including Craigheed, Craighead, and Creaghead. One notable individual was Robert Craighead (1636-1711), a Scottish minister who emigrated to Massachusetts and was involved in the Salem Witch Trials.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, several Craigheads made significant contributions in various fields. Robert Craighead (1753-1826) was a prominent Scottish architect who designed numerous buildings in Edinburgh. James Geddes Craighead (1810-1883) was a Scottish-American inventor and engineer who developed the first successful iron-hulled steamboat.

As the Craighead name spread across the world, it has been borne by many notable individuals, including Thomas Craighead (1870-1916), a British naval officer who served during World War I, and John Craighead (1916-2016), an American naturalist and writer who helped establish the field of wildlife biology.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Craighead

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Craighead.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Craighead was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Craighead has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Craighead was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Craighead, please contact us.

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