2000
#2,047
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,212
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.01
Uncommon Last name
Crandall
Derived from a place name meaning "crane valley" in Old English, referring to a person who lived there.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 18,679 Americans carry the last name Crandall. That puts it at #2,170 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.45 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 18,350 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Crandall 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.
Bearers in the US
19K
1 in 18,350
Census rank
#2,170
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
16K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,289 bearers of the surname Crandall in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.45 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2170th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Crandall, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Crandall
The surname Crandall has its origins in England and dates back to the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old English words "cran" meaning crane and "dæl" meaning valley, suggesting that the name originated from a place where cranes were commonly found in a particular valley.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Crandala" in reference to a settlement in the county of Norfolk. This suggests that the name was already well-established by the time of the Norman Conquest.
In the 13th century, the name appears in various forms, such as Crandall, Crandel, and Craundel, in various records and manuscripts from different parts of England, particularly in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex.
One notable bearer of the name was John Crandall, who was born in the village of Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, in 1618. He was among the earliest settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, in the United States, arriving there in 1638.
Another prominent figure was Prudence Crandall (1803-1890), an American educator and activist who established one of the first schools for African American girls in the United States. Her efforts to promote racial equality and education for all led to significant opposition and legal battles.
In the realm of literature, Isaac Crandall (1818-1886) was an American poet and writer who published several works, including "The Poetical Works of Isaac Crandall" in 1845.
William Crandall (1833-1915) was a noted American architect who designed several prominent buildings in New York City, including the Church of the Incarnation and the former New York Juvenile Asylum.
Another notable bearer of the name was Reed Crandall (1917-1982), an American comic book artist and illustrator best known for his work on EC Comics' horror and science fiction titles in the 1950s.
While the name Crandall has its origins in England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly in North America, due to migration and settlement patterns over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Crandall
Among Census respondents with the surname Crandall, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Crandall 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 Crandall surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 14,564
- Two or more races3.5% · 564
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 539
- Black or African American2.7% · 442
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 113
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 67
Timeline
Historical Census data for Crandall
Crandall 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
#2,163
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,781
+569 bearers (+3.5%)
Per 100,000 5.69
Rank movement Down 116 places
2020
#2,170
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,289
-492 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 5.45
Rank movement Down 7 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,047 | 16,212 | 6.01 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,163 | 16,781 | 5.69 | +569 bearers (+3.5%) | Down 116 places |
| 2020 | #2,170 | 16,289 | 5.45 | -492 bearers (-2.9%) | Down 7 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 Crandall 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 | #2,163 | #2,170 | -0.3% |
| Count | 16,781 | 16,289 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 5.69 | 5.45 | -4.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Crandall bearers went from 16,781 to 16,289 (-2.9% change). The surname moved down 7 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,163 to #2,170.
FAQ
Crandall surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Crandall?
Name Census estimates that about 18,679 living Americans carry the surname Crandall. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 18,350 residents.
How common is Crandall?
Crandall ranks #2,170 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.45 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,289 people with the surname Crandall. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (18,679), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.45 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.45 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Crandall.
Has Crandall become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Crandall went from 16,781 recorded bearers to 16,289. That is a decrease of 492 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,163 to #2,170.
What does the Census say about the background of Crandall?
Among Census respondents with the surname Crandall, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Crandall in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (14,564 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Crandall appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.4%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Crandall (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 Crandall mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "crane valley" in Old English, referring to a person who lived there. 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 Crandall (5.45 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 common is the surname Crandall?
You can see how many people have the surname Crandall on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.