2000
#7,826
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,921
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.45
Rare Last name
Giffin
A surname of Welsh origin meaning "fox" or "red-haired", derived from the Old English word "gyfin".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,206 Americans carry the last name Giffin. That puts it at #8,601 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.23 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 81,492 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Giffin 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 Giffin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.2K
1 in 81,492
Census rank
#8,601
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,668 bearers of the surname Giffin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.23 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8601st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Giffin, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Giffin
The surname Giffin is believed to have originated in England during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be a variant of the Old English name "Giffrith," which was derived from the elements "gift" meaning "precious gift" and "rid" meaning "counsel."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners and tenants commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Giffridus" and is listed among the landowners in Norfolk.
The name Giffin is also linked to various place names in England, such as Giffin Hill in Gloucestershire and Giffin Wood in Yorkshire. These place names likely originated from early settlers or landowners with the surname.
One notable individual with the surname Giffin was Sir Robert Giffin, a Scottish soldier and diplomat who lived during the 16th century (c. 1530-1592). He served under Mary, Queen of Scots, and later became an ambassador for King James VI of Scotland.
In the 17th century, Christopher Giffin (c. 1620-1690) was a prominent English sailor and navigator. He is best known for his voyages to the West Indies and his contributions to the development of navigation techniques.
Another individual of note was William Giffin (1732-1805), a British army officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. He fought in several major battles, including the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Long Island.
In the 19th century, Robert Giffin (1825-1899) was an Irish-born Canadian politician and businessman. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and was involved in various business ventures in the lumber and mining industries.
Mary Giffin (1854-1936) was a Canadian artist and educator who was known for her landscape paintings and her work as an art teacher in Toronto. She played a significant role in promoting the arts in Canada during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Giffin
Among Census respondents with the surname Giffin, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Giffin 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 Giffin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 3,267
- Two or more races3.9% · 144
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 135
- Black or African American1.5% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 29
Timeline
Historical Census data for Giffin
Giffin 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
#8,028
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,124
+203 bearers (+5.2%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Down 202 places
2020
#8,601
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,668
-456 bearers (-11.1%)
Per 100,000 1.23
Rank movement Down 573 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,826 | 3,921 | 1.45 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,028 | 4,124 | 1.40 | +203 bearers (+5.2%) | Down 202 places |
| 2020 | #8,601 | 3,668 | 1.23 | -456 bearers (-11.1%) | Down 573 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 Giffin 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 | #8,028 | #8,601 | -7.1% |
| Count | 4,124 | 3,668 | -11.1% |
| Per 100K | 1.40 | 1.23 | -12.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Giffin bearers went from 4,124 to 3,668 (-11.1% change). The surname moved down 573 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,028 to #8,601.
FAQ
Giffin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Giffin?
Name Census estimates that about 4,206 living Americans carry the surname Giffin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 81,492 residents.
How common is Giffin?
Giffin ranks #8,601 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.23 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 3,668 people with the surname Giffin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,206), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.23 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.23 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 Giffin.
Has Giffin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Giffin went from 4,124 recorded bearers to 3,668. That is a decrease of 456 (-11.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,028 to #8,601.
What does the Census say about the background of Giffin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Giffin, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Giffin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (3,267 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Giffin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.1%), Two or More Races (3.9%), Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Giffin (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 Giffin mean?
A surname of Welsh origin meaning "fox" or "red-haired", derived from the Old English word "gyfin". 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 Giffin (1.23 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 Giffin?
Want to know how common the surname Giffin is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.