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

Crain, 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 Crain surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Crain in America

Crain is the 2038th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Crain surname appeared 17,650 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Crain.

We can also compare 2010 data for Crain 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 Crain

The surname Crain has its origins in England, where it is believed to have first emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English word "cran," meaning "crane," which likely referred to someone who lived near a place frequented by cranes or someone who worked with cranes in some capacity.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1208, which mention a William Cran. The surname is also documented in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1279, where it appears as "Cranne." These early spellings suggest that the name may have originally been a nickname or descriptive name before becoming a hereditary surname.

In the 14th century, the surname began to appear in various forms, including Craine, Crayne, and Crayn, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling at the time. One notable bearer of the name from this period was John Craine, a merchant from London, who is mentioned in records from 1387.

The Crain surname can also be traced to certain place names in England, such as Crane Court in Hampshire and Crane Hall in Derbyshire. These locations may have influenced the development of the surname or served as places of origin for some Crain families.

Throughout history, the Crain surname has been associated with several notable individuals, including:

1. William Crain (c. 1460-1515), an English scholar and theologian who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
2. John Crain (c. 1590-1670), an English Puritan minister and author who emigrated to New England in the 1630s.
3. Matilda Crain (1825-1899), an American educator and author from New York, known for her writings on women's rights and education.
4. David Crain (1862-1935), an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of Arkansas from 1923 to 1925.
5. George Crain (1887-1942), an American film director and screenwriter best known for his work on several Charlie Chaplin films in the 1920s.

While the Crain surname has its roots in England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as a result of migration and settlement patterns over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Crain

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

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 Crain 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 Crain 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 Crain was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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