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

Grant, 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 Grant surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Grant in America

Grant is the 196th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Grant surname appeared 142,277 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 48 people would have the surname Grant.

We can also compare 2010 data for Grant 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 Grant

The surname GRANT originated in the early medieval era in Normandy, France. It is derived from the Old French word "grant" meaning "big" or "large". The name likely referred to someone of tall stature or physical size.

The name first appeared in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066 when William the Conqueror rewarded his Norman noblemen with lands across England. Some of these Normans adopted locational surnames based on the new territories they governed, such as Richard de Grant who was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as holding lands in Essex.

Early variants of the spelling included Graunt, Grande, and Grante. The surname spread across Britain in the following centuries, with branches establishing in Scotland and Ireland too. Sir Francis Grant (c.1270-1334) was a Scottish knight who served under King Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

In the mid-15th century, John Grant (c.1433-1505) founded the clan Grant and built their seat at Freuchie Castle in Inverness-shire, Scotland. A prominent member was Sir Duncan Grant (1585-1638), a Scottish military leader who fought for Sweden during the Thirty Years' War in Europe.

Other notable bearers include Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the American Civil War general who later served as the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. Cary Grant (1904-1986) was a famous Hollywood actor originally named Archibald Leach who took "Grant" as his stage name. Economist Milton Grant (1914-1998) co-founded the Milton Friedman Institute for economic research.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Grant

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

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

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

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