2000
#121,780
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 131
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Grivna
A surname derived from the name of a medieval Slavic monetary unit.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 125 Americans carry the last name Grivna. That puts it at #150,205 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,742,035 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Grivna 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
125
1 in 2,742,035
Census rank
#150,205
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
109
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 109 bearers of the surname Grivna in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150205th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Grivna, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Grivna
The surname GRIVNA is of Eastern European origin, specifically from Ukraine and Russia. It first emerged during the medieval period, around the 12th to 14th centuries. The name is derived from the Old East Slavic word "grivna," which referred to a unit of currency or weight used in the Kievan Rus' and other Slavic regions at the time.
GRIVNA is believed to have originated as an occupational surname, given to individuals involved in minting or handling this ancient currency. In some cases, it may have also been adopted as a surname by families associated with wealth or trade, reflecting their financial status or involvement in commerce.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the GRIVNA surname can be found in the Veliky Novgorod Chronicles, a collection of medieval Russian annals dating back to the 12th century. These chronicles mention individuals with the surname, indicating its presence in the Novgorod region during that time period.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the GRIVNA surname was Ivan Grivna, a merchant and landowner from the city of Veliky Ustyug in northeastern Russia. He lived from approximately 1530 to 1590 and was known for his successful trading ventures and philanthropic contributions to local monasteries.
Another historical reference to the GRIVNA name can be found in the records of the Cossack Hetmanate, a semi-autonomous Cossack state that existed in central Ukraine from the 16th to 18th centuries. Several Cossack leaders and military figures with the surname GRIVNA are mentioned in these documents, suggesting that the name was prevalent among the Cossack population.
In the 18th century, a prominent figure with the GRIVNA surname was Yakov Grivna, a Ukrainian philosopher and educator who lived from 1720 to 1788. He was a professor at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and contributed significantly to the intellectual and cultural life of the region.
Moving into the 19th century, Mikhail Grivna (1792-1860) was a Russian writer and translator who gained recognition for his literary works and translations of foreign authors into Russian.
Throughout its history, the GRIVNA surname has also been associated with various place names and their older spellings, such as the village of Grivno in Ukraine and the town of Grivenskaya in Russia. These place names likely derive from the same linguistic root as the surname, reflecting the connection between the name and its geographical origins.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grivna
Among Census respondents with the surname Grivna, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Grivna 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 Grivna surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 109
Timeline
Historical Census data for Grivna
Grivna 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
#142,108
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
-14 bearers (-10.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 20,328 places
2020
#150,205
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
-8 bearers (-6.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,097 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,780 | 131 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #142,108 | 117 | 0.04 | -14 bearers (-10.7%) | Down 20,328 places |
| 2020 | #150,205 | 109 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.8%) | Down 8,097 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 Grivna 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 | #142,108 | #150,205 | -5.7% |
| Count | 117 | 109 | -6.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Grivna bearers went from 117 to 109 (-6.8% change). The surname moved down 8,097 positions in the national ranking, going from #142,108 to #150,205.
FAQ
Grivna surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Grivna?
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the surname Grivna. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,742,035 residents.
How common is Grivna?
Grivna ranks #150,205 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 109 people with the surname Grivna. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (125), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Grivna.
Has Grivna become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Grivna went from 117 recorded bearers to 109. That is a decrease of 8 (-6.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #142,108 to #150,205.
What does the Census say about the background of Grivna?
Among Census respondents with the surname Grivna, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Grivna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (109 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Grivna appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Grivna (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 Grivna mean?
A surname derived from the name of a medieval Slavic monetary unit. 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 Grivna (0.04 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 Grivna?
Want to know how many people have the last name Grivna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.