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

Cregar, 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 Cregar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cregar in America

Cregar is the 40909th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cregar surname appeared 533 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Cregar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cregar 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 Cregar

The surname Cregar is of Scottish origin, with its earliest known roots dating back to the 14th century in the region of Angus, Scotland. The name is believed to be derived from the Scottish Gaelic words "crioch" meaning "boundary" or "border" and "gearr" meaning "short" or "little," suggesting it may have originally referred to someone who lived near a boundary or on the outskirts of a town or village.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cregar can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, where a John Cregar is mentioned as a tenant in the lands of Balmakewan in Angus in the year 1365. The name also appears in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, with a William Cregar being granted lands in Auchterhouse, Angus, in 1462.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Cregar appears to have been concentrated primarily in the counties of Angus, Perthshire, and Fife in eastern Scotland. Variations in spelling, such as Creger, Creygar, and Krieger, were not uncommon during this period.

One notable individual bearing the Cregar surname was John Cregar, a merchant and burgess of Dundee, who was active in the late 16th century. Another was William Cregar, a clergyman who served as the minister of the parish of Arngask in Perthshire in the early 17th century.

In the 18th century, the name Cregar began to appear more frequently in records outside of Scotland, as some members of the family migrated to other parts of the British Isles and beyond. Robert Cregar, a Scottish emigrant to America, was among the early settlers of Maryland, arriving in the colony in the 1730s.

In the 19th century, the surname Cregar gained further recognition with the birth of two prominent individuals. David Cregar, born in 1824 in Perthshire, Scotland, became a respected architect and was responsible for the design of several notable buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Meanwhile, Laird Cregar, an American actor of Scottish descent, was born in 1916 and gained fame for his roles in films such as The Lodger and Hangover Square before his untimely death in 1944.

Throughout its history, the Cregar surname has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including farmers, merchants, clergymen, architects, and actors, reflecting the diverse experiences and contributions of those who carried this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cregar

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

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

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

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