2000
#19,164
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,311
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.49
Rare Last name
Grajales
A Spanish toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "barn" or "granary" in Galician.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,425 Americans carry the last name Grajales. That puts it at #13,717 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 141,342 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Grajales 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
2.4K
1 in 141,342
Census rank
#13,717
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,115 bearers of the surname Grajales in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13717th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Grajales, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Black (0.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Grajales
The surname Grajales originated in Spain, with its roots tracing back to the 12th century. It is believed to be derived from the Spanish word "graja," which means "crow" or "rook." The name was likely given to someone who lived near a place where these birds were abundant or had a particular affinity for them.
Grajales was initially found in the regions of Andalusia and Castile in southern and central Spain, respectively. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval Spanish documents and records from the 13th and 14th centuries.
One notable example is the mention of a certain Pedro Grajales in a land registry from the town of Seville, dated 1287. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region during that time.
Another early reference to the name Grajales comes from a 14th-century manuscript detailing the expeditions of Spanish explorer and navigator Juan Grajales, who participated in several voyages to the Canary Islands and the West African coast in the late 1300s.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Grajales name spread across Spain and eventually to the Americas as part of the Spanish colonial expansion. One notable figure from this era was Diego Grajales (1495-1564), a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to conquer Mexico in 1519.
In the 17th century, a prominent member of the Grajales family was Francisco Grajales (1620-1692), a Spanish painter and engraver who achieved fame for his religious works and portraits of nobility.
The Grajales name also found its way to other parts of Europe and the Americas, with variations in spelling and pronunciation arising over time. For instance, in Italy, the name was sometimes rendered as "Graglia" or "Gragliato."
Other notable individuals with the Grajales surname include Antonio Grajales (1752-1818), a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1808 to 1809, and María Grajales (1815-1893), a Cuban revolutionary and mother of the famed patriots Antonio Maceo and José Maceo, who played pivotal roles in the struggle for Cuban independence from Spain.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grajales
Among Census respondents with the surname Grajales, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Black (0.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Grajales 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 Grajales surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.2% · 1,992
- White4.4% · 94
- Black or African American0.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Grajales
Grajales 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
#14,881
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,988
+677 bearers (+51.6%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Up 4,283 places
2020
#13,717
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,115
+127 bearers (+6.4%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Up 1,164 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #19,164 | 1,311 | 0.49 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,881 | 1,988 | 0.67 | +677 bearers (+51.6%) | Up 4,283 places |
| 2020 | #13,717 | 2,115 | 0.71 | +127 bearers (+6.4%) | Up 1,164 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 Grajales 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 | #14,881 | #13,717 | 7.8% |
| Count | 1,988 | 2,115 | 6.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.67 | 0.71 | 5.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Grajales bearers went from 1,988 to 2,115 (+6.4% change). The surname moved up 1,164 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,881 to #13,717.
FAQ
Grajales surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Grajales?
Name Census estimates that about 2,425 living Americans carry the surname Grajales. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 141,342 residents.
How common is Grajales?
Grajales ranks #13,717 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 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 2,115 people with the surname Grajales. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,425), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 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 Grajales.
Has Grajales become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Grajales went from 1,988 recorded bearers to 2,115. That is an increase of 127 (+6.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,881 to #13,717.
What does the Census say about the background of Grajales?
Among Census respondents with the surname Grajales, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Black (0.7%). 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?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Grajales in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (1,992 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Grajales appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (94.2%), White (4.4%), Black (0.7%). 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 Grajales (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 Grajales mean?
A Spanish toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "barn" or "granary" in Galician. 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 Grajales (0.71 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 Grajales?
See how many Americans have the surname Grajales on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.