2000
#1,895
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,402
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.45
Uncommon Last name
Crenshaw
From the Old English words "crundel" and "sceaga," referring to someone who lived near a crooked wood or grove.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 19,789 Americans carry the last name Crenshaw. That puts it at #2,047 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 17,320 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Crenshaw 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
20K
1 in 17,320
Census rank
#2,047
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
17K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 17,257 bearers of the surname Crenshaw in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2047th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Crenshaw, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.9%. The next largest groups are Black (40.6%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Crenshaw
The surname CRENSHAW is of English origin, deriving from the Old English words "crene" meaning "crane" and "sceaga" meaning "grove" or "small wood". It is thought to have originated as a place name, likely referring to a location where cranes were known to gather or nest in a wooded area.
The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th century, with variations in spelling such as Crenshawe, Crenshaw, and Crenshewe appearing in various historical records and documents. One of the earliest known references is found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which mentions a John de Creneshaw residing in Staffordshire.
During the Medieval period, the CRENSHAW name was primarily concentrated in the counties of Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire in northwest England. It is believed that the name may have originated as a descriptive name for someone who lived near a crane-inhabited grove or woodland area in one of these regions.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the CRENSHAW name began to appear more frequently in parish records and historical documents. One notable individual from this time was Richard Crenshaw, born in 1580 in Cheshire, who was a prominent landowner and magistrate.
As the CRENSHAW family spread across England, some branches of the family adopted variations of the name, such as Crenshawe and Cranshawe. One notable figure was Sir Ranulph Crenshawe (1608-1649), a Royalist commander during the English Civil War who fought for King Charles I.
In the late 17th century, several members of the CRENSHAW family immigrated to the American colonies, with some settling in Virginia and Maryland. One of the earliest recorded CRENSHAWs in America was Thomas Crenshaw, born in 1665 in Cheshire, England, who established a plantation in Henrico County, Virginia.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the CRENSHAW name continued to be prominent in various parts of the United States, with individuals such as Amos Crenshaw (1752-1828), a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia, and Anderson Crenshaw (1784-1847), a U.S. Congressman from Tennessee.
Other notable individuals with the CRENSHAW surname include Ben Crenshaw (born 1952), an American professional golfer and two-time Masters champion, and Lucille Crenshaw (1862-1918), an African American educator and activist who founded the Crenshaw Community Center in Los Angeles, California.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Crenshaw
Among Census respondents with the surname Crenshaw, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.9%. The next largest groups are Black (40.6%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Crenshaw 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 Crenshaw surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.9% · 8,614
- Black or African American40.6% · 7,009
- Two or more races5.2% · 892
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 592
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 71
Timeline
Historical Census data for Crenshaw
Crenshaw 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
#1,995
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 18,096
+694 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 6.13
Rank movement Down 100 places
2020
#2,047
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,257
-839 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 5.77
Rank movement Down 52 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,895 | 17,402 | 6.45 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,995 | 18,096 | 6.13 | +694 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 100 places |
| 2020 | #2,047 | 17,257 | 5.77 | -839 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 52 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 Crenshaw 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 | #1,995 | #2,047 | -2.6% |
| Count | 18,096 | 17,257 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 6.13 | 5.77 | -5.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Crenshaw bearers went from 18,096 to 17,257 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 52 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,995 to #2,047.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Crenshaw
FAQ
Crenshaw surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Crenshaw?
Name Census estimates that about 19,789 living Americans carry the surname Crenshaw. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 17,320 residents.
How common is Crenshaw?
Crenshaw ranks #2,047 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 17,257 people with the surname Crenshaw. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (19,789), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Crenshaw.
Has Crenshaw become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Crenshaw went from 18,096 recorded bearers to 17,257. That is a decrease of 839 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,995 to #2,047.
What does the Census say about the background of Crenshaw?
Among Census respondents with the surname Crenshaw, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.9%. The next largest groups are Black (40.6%) 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 Crenshaw in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.9% (8,614 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Crenshaw appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (49.9%), Black (40.6%), 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 Crenshaw (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 Crenshaw mean?
From the Old English words "crundel" and "sceaga," referring to someone who lived near a crooked wood or grove. 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 Crenshaw (5.77 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 people are called Crenshaw?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Crenshaw? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.