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

Graig, 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 Graig surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Graig in America

Graig is the 44270th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Graig surname appeared 486 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 Graig.

We can also compare 2010 data for Graig 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 Graig

The surname GRAIG is of English origin, deriving from the Old English word 'græg', meaning gray or gray-haired. It was initially used as a descriptive nickname for someone with gray hair or a grayish complexion.

The name is believed to have originated in the county of Northumberland in the northeast of England, where it was first recorded in the 13th century. Early records show variations in spelling, such as Gregg, Greig, and Graig.

One of the earliest documented references to the name can be found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, which list a Robert Grayg in Northumberland. The Subsidy Rolls of 1296 also mention a John Graig in the same county.

In the 14th century, the name began to spread across northern England, with notable bearers including William Graig, a merchant from York who was recorded in the city's Freeman Rolls in 1349.

The earliest known ancestor of the GRAIG family is believed to be Robert de Graig, a landowner in Northumberland who was mentioned in a deed dated 1376. His descendants later adopted the spelling GRAIG, which became the predominant form of the name.

In the 16th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Sir Thomas Graig (1538-1598), a prominent English soldier and courtier who served under Queen Elizabeth I. He was knighted for his services during the Anglo-Spanish War and is considered one of the most distinguished bearers of the GRAIG surname.

Another notable figure was John Graig (1663-1732), a Scottish philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of calculus. His work, "Methodus incrementorum directa et inversa" (1668), laid the foundations for the development of integral calculus.

In the 18th century, the GRAIG surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire, where many families were engaged in agriculture and trade.

One of the most famous bearers of the name in the 19th century was Sir William Graig (1809-1885), a British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Graig Trust, a charitable organization that supported education and social welfare initiatives.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Graig

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

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

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

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