2000
#10,674
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,750
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.02
Rare Last name
Craighead
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a crag or steep rock on a hill.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,050 Americans carry the last name Craighead. That puts it at #11,338 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 112,378 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Craighead 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 Craighead with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.0K
1 in 112,378
Census rank
#11,338
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,660 bearers of the surname Craighead in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11338th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Craighead, the largest self-reported group is White at 64.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Craighead
Among Census respondents with the surname Craighead, the largest self-reported group is White at 64.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Craighead 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 Craighead surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.4% · 1,713
- Black or African American26.8% · 712
- Two or more races5.2% · 137
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 60
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Craighead
Craighead 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
#11,256
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,809
+59 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Down 582 places
2020
#11,338
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,660
-149 bearers (-5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.89
Rank movement Down 82 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,674 | 2,750 | 1.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,256 | 2,809 | 0.95 | +59 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 582 places |
| 2020 | #11,338 | 2,660 | 0.89 | -149 bearers (-5.3%) | Down 82 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 Craighead 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 | #11,256 | #11,338 | -0.7% |
| Count | 2,809 | 2,660 | -5.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.95 | 0.89 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Craighead bearers went from 2,809 to 2,660 (-5.3% change). The surname moved down 82 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,256 to #11,338.
FAQ
Craighead surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Craighead?
Name Census estimates that about 3,050 living Americans carry the surname Craighead. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 112,378 residents.
How common is Craighead?
Craighead ranks #11,338 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,660 people with the surname Craighead. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,050), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.89 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Craighead.
Has Craighead become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Craighead went from 2,809 recorded bearers to 2,660. That is a decrease of 149 (-5.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,256 to #11,338.
What does the Census say about the background of Craighead?
Among Census respondents with the surname Craighead, the largest self-reported group is White at 64.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Craighead in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.4% (1,713 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Craighead appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (64.4%), Black (26.8%), Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Craighead (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 Craighead mean?
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near a crag or steep rock on a 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 Craighead (0.89 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 Americans have the surname Craighead?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.