Grisby last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Grisby

An English habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "grassy village/farmstead".

Grisby, 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 Grisby surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Grisby in America

Grisby is the 19590th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Grisby surname appeared 1,377 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 Grisby.

We can also compare 2010 data for Grisby 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 19590 20124 -2.69%
Count 1,377 1,232 11.12%
Proportion per 100k 0.47 0.46 2.15%

The history of the last name Grisby

The surname Grisby is of English origin, derived from a locational name for someone who lived near a grove or plantation. The name likely emerged in the early 12th century from the Old English words "grǣfe" meaning grove and "bȳ" meaning settlement or dwelling.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire in 1194, where it is spelled as "Griseby." This suggests the name may have first arisen in the Worcestershire area. Similar spellings in early records include "Grysebi" and "Gryseby."

The Grisby surname is also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This indicates the name's existence as a place name before evolving into a hereditary surname.

Notable individuals with the surname Grisby include John Grisby (c. 1519-1575), an English composer and musician during the Renaissance period. His works include anthems and other sacred music compositions.

Another Grisby of note is Sir Thomas Grisby (1564-1630), a Member of Parliament for Yorkshire in the early 17th century. He served during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I.

In the late 16th century, Gresby Hall in Lincolnshire was the seat of the Grisby family, a line of landed gentry. The hall's construction dates back to the 14th century.

William Grisby (1677-1753) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He made contributions to the study of calculus and published works on astronomy and navigation.

Elizabeth Grisby (1768-1845), a prominent Quaker minister and writer, authored several religious texts and traveled extensively to preach throughout England and America in the early 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Grisby

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

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 Grisby was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 10.68% 147
Non-Hispanic Black Only 83.01% 1,143
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 3.85% 53
Hispanic Origin 1.89% 26

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 Grisby has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 10.68% 13.39% -22.52%
Black 83.01% 81.90% 1.35%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% 0.00% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.49% (S)%
Two or More Races 3.85% 3.08% 22.22%
Hispanic 1.89% 1.14% 49.50%

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

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

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"Grisby last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/grisby-surname-popularity/.

"Grisby last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/grisby-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Grisby last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/grisby-surname-popularity/.

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